Megacharge
by Mr. Mega1423
Summary: What would you do if the last thing you remembered was being sucked through a portal into a foreign world? Well, I'll tell you what I did. I befriended a strange kid with a hat and umbrella and helped her with her own dilemma, finding weird hourglasses to fuel her spaceship. Yes, a freaking spaceship. However, doing so was much easier said than done, lemme tell ya.
1. Prologue

Prologue

What happened on that day? Oh, brother, was it a doozy. I remember it... mostly. I lived alone in a small apartment. I was a 20 year old lazy male gamer obsessed with sweaters and wearing hoods (I feel insecure without them for some reason). I was playing my favourite game, which I don't remember what it was, and I finished a level after quite some time.

I shook my head. Was that really all to life? Going to and from a job every day, returning home just to play a video game? Surely there was something better or less boring I could do with my life. Maybe join the military? No, no, I'd be rejected. Work at a hospital? No, I disgust easily.

After that, I checked the time, realized it was getting pretty late, and decided to go to bed. That was my plan, at least. I opened my eyes and looked around. I had a strange feeling, like I was being watched. Nothing unusual there, my anxiety typically made me feel that way.

But this time, it was different. It felt... real. Like I had to actually check my whole apartment to make sure there wasn't an intruder. I did so, and when I returned to my bedroom, I could've sworn I saw something out of the corner of my eye that didn't belong there.

I turned to face it, but there was nothing there. I figured I was hallucinating, and shook my head. I returned to bed, when I heard a very strange jingle. I got up, and looked around again. Nothing.

"What the hell?" I whispered to myself, "Well, I guess my apartment is haunted. Joy." Then, after that, my TV turned on to static. I got up, ran over to it to turn it off, but when I hit the power button, nothing happpened.

I became extremely annoyed and unplugged the television, but to my surprise, it didn't turn off for another few seconds. I knew something fishy was happening. I made a note to myself to get a medium or some paranormal expert or whatever to come to my apartment sometime.

Yeah, that never happened.

I turned away from the television and prepared to go to bed, but I heard a loud, strange noise, and in front of my television, what seemed to be a weird portal or wormhole made of static appeared.

My jaw dropped, but then, I felt myself being pulled toward it.

"What the-?!" I shouted, but stopped myself and thought about what could be done. I grabbed onto my bed post, which broke off after a couple of seconds, and I was sucked through the portal, screaming like a girl.

Well, I guess I got what I wished for.


	2. Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

I woke up with a migraine, and found myself in an odd place. It was a dark, open room with two levels and a carpet covering the lower level, a large vault next to a monitor, a TV off to the side, and strange doors leading to other rooms.

Then I realized: I couldn't remember anything! Not my name, where I come from, anything! Only thing I could _barely _remember was how I got here, but all I remembered was that I was sucked through a weird portal, then everything went white.

When I turned around, my jaw dropped. I saw a gigantic window covering an entire wall peering out into the void of space, and in the center of the view: a planet.

"Hello?" I called out, "Anybody home? I need help! I have amnesia!" I received no response. I decided to wait until someone returned. After about 5 minutes, I heard a strange noise coming from the second level, the vault being opened, then closed, and machinery humming to life as power and light returned.

Then, I heard a high-pitched gasp, and turned to see a little girl with brown hair, a purple and yellow large top hat, purple clothes, white pants, and a yellow cape, staring in shock at me.

"Um, hi?" I greeted awkwardly, "Is there an adult I can speak with?" The kid didn't respond, and I took a step forward, which seemed to alarm her. I stepped back and raised my hands to show I meant no harm, but she bolted toward me much faster than I ever could've expected, and I felt a hard whack to my face, knocking me down.

I cursed under my breath. I was blindfolded, and when the blindfold was taken off, I was tied to a wall.

The kid was standing in front of me, and she had a look of steep suspicion on her face. She was holding a blue starred umbrella. She made a motion with it and nodded her head, like she was beckoning me to speak.

"Okay, uh," I muttered, "How do I explain this?..."

She crossed her arms.

"Well, uh, I don't remember anything. Last thing I barely remember is being sucked into a weird vortex or portal. I don't know how I got here, where I was, where I'm going, anything. I need help, I know I don't belong here, I'll need guidance or something, I don't want to be homeless," I explained. Hopefully it was enough.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not lying! I have no freaking clue what to do! Why would I lie?" I shouted, and she took a deep breath.

"Hmph," Was all she said, then she untied me and motioned for me to follow her. I followed her through a set of blue double doors into what seemed to be a large, nice, kitchen, except for the fact it was kind of a mess.

That was when I realized: She was alone on this ship. There were no adults, no other kids, no nobody. She looked through a telescope and motioned for me to stand near the telescope. She grabbed the lower part of my sweater and snapped her fingers, and everything turned to light blue.

A couple of seconds later, the blue dispersed and we found ourselves above a large market district in a strange island city.

Oh, wait.

In the air.

My acrophobia kicked in and I immediately began screaming as we fell to the ground. The kid landed gracefully and struck a pose, but me... I fell flat on my face and was lucky I didn't break my nose. She landed in a small alleyway, I landed on the roof of a building.

She looked at me dead seriously. I took the message well and clear. She didn't want to see me on her ship ever again. She then jumped towards a wall and bounced off of wall to wall to jump over a grate blocking her progress, and I stared in awe.

Wall jumping? That's an insanely impressive feat for anyone to accomplish, let alone a little girl. But, to be fair, she probably was an alien, she probably had superhuman qualities. Shaking the thought aside, I jumped down from the building, bending my knees when I landed, and looked around.

There were large, muscular men with big, bushy eyebrows and moustaches around the placae, wearing blue suits with white aprons, with messages inscribed on the aprons in red. I slowly and sheepishly walked over to one of them.

"Excuse me, sir, but can you help me?" I asked, and the man scowled at me.

"Mafia no help stranger. Mafia take from stranger," He grumbled, and I frowned.

"I don't have anything on me," I said sadly, "I don't remember who I am, where I come from, blah blah blah, anything, all I know is I don't belong here."

"Amnesia? Strange. No one in Mafia Town receive amnesia before," The Mafia man stated, "Very strange. Mafia must speak to boss about this."

"Okay..." I muttered, and the man walked away. Weird. A mafia of what seemed to be Italian chefs with Russian accents that speak in third-person. Wait, how did I remember what Italian and Russian meant?

I shook my head. I guess I still remembered terms, just not my memory itself. I sat down and relaxed for a little while before I heard a shout.

"What kind of man grabs an innocent little girl?!" A British, feminine voice shouted. Hearing this, I prepared to see what the commotion was all about when I saw the hatted kid run over in their direction.

She'd probably take care of it, she's talented.

I went back to relaxing for about an hour, when I decided to tour the town. I learned its population was 538, it was a fishing village, and that the Mafia weren't too kind to strangers. I wasn't attacked, though, I was just told to go away.

Other than the Mafia, though, it seemed like a not bad place to live. Perhaps I could join them and settle down. On my travels, I gathered some strange green orbs with gems in them, and, according to a more kind Mafia Goon, they were the money of the planet and I could use them to buy stuff.

I used them to buy some food, and found a place to eat it while I watched the sun set.

Yeah, this could work.


	3. Chapter 2: No Match For Me

Chapter 2: No Match For Me

**A/N: Oh, yeah, I must warn you, some important scenes are gonna have some cursewords thrown around by our protagonist here.**

Shortly after that, it started raining. Hooray. I found a small alcove to sit in and sat there for awhile, and fell asleep, before I was woken up by three Mafia Goons.

"What?" I grumbled.

"You're new here. Mafia never, _ever_ see new people, so Boss wants to see you," The center one explained.

"Can't I just sleep?" I asked.

"You're coming with Mafia, no matter what," Another stated, and I sighed.

"Ugh, fine," I hissed, and got up slowly. Seeing how it was still raining, I pulled my hood over my head more and we went out. Eventually we came to what seemed to be an oversized red tea kettle.

The first Mafia Goon jumped in, and the thing pointed upward and shot him upward onto a large platform above, suspended by an ever-erupting geyser. I scratched my head.

"Is this safe?" I asked.

"No mafia ever get hurt from doing it," One explained, "But you are more frail and weak than Mafia. Eh, is good for experimentation."

"Gee, thats reassuring," I hissed.

"Jump in," The other one ordered, so I cursed under my breath and jumped in. It pointed upward and shot me up to the platform in the sky, me shouting and swearing the whole way up.

I landed on my feet without issue.

"Oh," I said.

"See? Steam cannon perfectly safe," The other Mafia Goon stated.

"Yeah, gotcha," I grumbled. Soon after, the other two goons came up and stepped on two buttons on the ground, raising the door to the Mafia headquarters. Laughter, clinking of glasses, and more could be heard from within.

I frowned. It seemed like a gigantic casino, and I hate casinos. I sighed and walked in alongside the goons. As I expected, it was a large casino, with a theater on the opposite end of where we came in. Odds are, thats where the Mafia Boss was. I walked ahead to enter the theater, but was blocked by a Mafia Goon.

The 3 goons escorting me told the usher Goon what was happening, then he nodded and stepped out of the way. Ahead was a long hallway filled with a stupidly large amount of riches along either side.

I stared at it in awe, but a Goon nudged me ahead slightly and I snapped out of it. I walked in front of the boss, who looked somewhat as I expected. Head chef attire, a large moustache, a look of 'I don't give a damn' on his face.

"So, you are the new person that's been causing commotion?" The Boss asked.

"I've done nothing, sir, but yes, I'm new around here," I answered.

"What are your goals in Mafia Town?" He asked.

"Well, I want to try to return home, wherever that may be, and if I can't, I wish to settle down here," I explained.

"You seem intelligent. The Mafia could use some of that right now," He grumbled, seemingly to insult his goons. Yeah, they definitely didn't seem... smart.

"I suppose you could say that. Are you inviting me to join the Mafia?" I asked.

"Yes. If you wish to settle down, joining the Mafia is the easiest way to do that," The Boss explained. I nodded my head. Yeah, that definitely seemed right. "What is your name?" He asked.

"I do not remember my name, but you may call me:" I said, then grinned. "Mr. Mega, just Mega for short." He nodded, amused. So, it's official, then. Besides, he seemed pretty nice for a Mafia Boss, all things considered. Perhaps joining a Mafia wouldn't be too bad after all.

"I will order a Mafia uniform for you if you join," He stated.

"Okay-" I muttered, but I was interrupted when a _bang _and a metallic _clang _was heard behind me. I turned around, and the hat kid walked out into the hall, and stared coldly in my direction.

I realized she was probably looking toward the Mafia Boss and stepped out of the way. She ran forward, but was stopped when the Boss shouted something and two gates were raised, one in front of her, one behind her.

Two Mafia Goons came out from behind curtains and stared angrily at her. Wait, they weren't gonna?... They charged at her, but she dodged and whacked them when they got near her, before they blocked her attacks, so she jumped in the air and bounced off of each of their heads, knocking them out.

The gates were lowered and she continued forward, and she raised an eyebrow when she saw me. I shrugged my shoulders. The Boss jumped down and stared coldly at her.

"So, it is _you!_ Ever since you arrived in Mafia Town, it's been raining with these magical hourglasses," He hissed, pointing toward a floating, glowing hourglass behind him. Magic? Magic wasn't real. "You must be very lost, kid with the hat. You're in the heart of our town, standing before the most powerful man you will _ever witness!_ Everything you've ever owned belongs to me now."

I quickly butted in. "Don't you think that's kind of extreme for a little girl?" I asked, and he stared at me.

"Quiet!" He hissed, then turned back to the kid. "If you want it, we'll have to settle it in true Mafia style!" He yelled. Wait. He wasn't gonna fight her, was he? I got between them.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You're not gonna fight her, are ya?" I asked, and he nodded slowly. "Okay, I'm not gonna stand aside and let a little kid be attacked by an adult. So, let's make a deal, pal," I suggested, "How about, I fight you, and if I win, she gets the hourglass, and if you win, you do whatever you want."

The Boss was silent, he was clearly thinking.

"Hmph. If it matters so much to you, fine. But, I must warn you, I will not hold back on you just because you wish to join us. No. I must defend my honour and my position," He warned.

"I understand," I said, then the lights turned off. When they turned back on, I was on a stage with the boss, and he was holding machetes.

"Lights! Action!" He yelled, "It is... **showtime!**" Rock music began playing, and he charged at me, spinning his blades around in every direction. I was surprised by how fast he was, but I jumped as high as I could and stomped down on his head.

He jumped back, and raised an eyebrow, then jumped offstage and whistled, which caused sandbags to fall from the ceiling. I dodged them easily. He then jumped back on stage, right where I was, but I dove out of the way before he landed.

He then jumped over to the right and began spinning his blades in place, and I could see arcs of electricity building on him.

"Supercharge!" He shouted, and large yellow sparks began zooming along the floor towards me. I jumped over them easily. I was surprised at how well I was doing, but then I remembered that adrenaline was a thing.

Eventually, he became dizzy, and I sensed my chance. I ran toward him, jumped, and kicked him square in the jaw. He jumped over the left and began stomping his feet down.

"You're no match for me!" He yelled, and I nodded slowly.

"Mhm, sure," I said.

He jumped backstage and threw his machetes out like boomerangs, and jumped toward me. I ran out of the way before he landed, then the machetes came flying back toward him. I wasn't expecting this and got smacked in the face by one of the handles, knocking me down into a seated position.

Damn, did that hurt. But, I got up and gave him a determined grin. After that, he repeated the same attacks over and over, but I got his number and hit him when I could. This happened until he became very angry and jumped to the right side of the stage, and pointed up to the ceiling with his machete, wearing a devilish grin.

I heard a shrill scream, and knew immediately who it came from.

"I've got your friends captured, and soon, they will both perish!" He shouted, and I looked up where he was pointing to see who I now call Hat Kid and another little girl wearing a red hood and a star medallion with orange hair and an orange... moustache being hung by the waist from the ceiling, both squirming like mad.

"Let go of me, you psycho!" The moustached girl screamed. I turned back to the boss and clenched my fists.

"You piece of sh-" I stopped myself, remembering there were two kids there. "I thought we made a deal that you leave them alone!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"You never specified!" He taunted.

"Ok, that's it, no mercy for you," I hissed, then he jumped in the air.

"_**MAFIAAAAAA... BALL!**_" He yelled, and a giant ball of Mafia men congregated beneath him, making my jaw drop.

"What the hell is that?!" I screamed. Now I've seen everything. Or so I thought.

The Boss then began rolling it toward me, and I ran out of the way. It didn't disperse, though, it just kept rolling back and forth.

"Dude!" The moustached girl shouted, "Hit him already!"

"I don't have a ranged weapon or anything! How?!" I yelled.

"Climb into it and hit him!" She screamed, and pointed to a hole in the ball's side. I crouched down so I could fit in it, then, when the chance came, I jumped into it and punched the Boss in the face.

He was knocked off, and the ball disappeared. He jumped over to the left side of the arena, and began spinning in place. Same attack, I knew how to dodge it.

However, he was spinning faster.

"Ultracharge!" He shouted, and sparks began coming toward me, some grounded, some bouncing in the air. I took a hit from one of them, and then I realized that electricity did not feel good.

I got up, and he began spinning even faster, and the electricity around him turned red.

"_Megacharge!_" He screamed, and began shooting red ground and bouncing sparks at me at a much faster rate. Somehow I don't know, I managed to dodge them all... barely.

He became dizzy once again and I hit him, then he jumped offstage and whistled once again, signalling more sandbags to fall. I knew this, and ran where I needed, but felt something crash into me from the side. It was a fricking Mafia Goon.

I fell to the floor, and the boss jumped back up. I rolled out of the way just in time, but then I realized something. He was right. I'm no match for him. However, Hat Kid whistled, grabbing my attention, and was able to grab something from her pocket and give it to me. I didn't know what it was, it seemed like a piece of scrap metal, broken and sharpened on one end. I didn't question why she had it, but I took a risk.

If this failed, all three of us would die. It was worth a shot. I threw it like a boomerang up at the kid, and, fortunately, it hit the rope holding her up and cut it, causing her to fall to the ground.

She grinned, took out her umbrella, and pushed me off the stage. The Boss became extremely angry and began fighting her instead of me. I watched in awe as she began fighting him so elegantly and easily that she made it seem like child's play.

The Mafia Boss reformed the Mafia Ball once again, and began rolling it toward her, but she climbed inside and whacked him in the face with her umbrella at lightning speed.

"It... can't... be!" He screamed, then... he... exploded in a ball of purple goo. Absolutely disgusting. Clearly the kid thought the same thing, and adopted a look of horror. I climbed back up onto the stage and patted her on the shoulder.

"Good job, kid," I congratulated, and she shook her head and looked down in a shameful manner. "Look, kid, don't be hard on yourself about this. I don't know what it's like to kill someone, but you did the right thing. It would've either been us dead or him, and judging by what he's done, I think him dying is the better option," I reassured her, and she looked up and nodded.

I then grabbed the hourglass that flew into the air and examined it.

"What is this thing, anyway?" I asked, then she looked up at me, gave me an annoyed glare, and motioned for me to give it to her, which I promptly did. Then, I saw a flash of red and orange, and the object was nowhere to be seen.

We both looked over to see the moustached girl holding the object, tossing it up in the air carelessly, which irritated me.

"So, what do these things do anyway? Are they some sort of rare collector's item for nerds?" She taunted, and I gave her a disapproving stare.

"That belongs to her, not you. Give it," I hissed, and she ignored me. Seeing she was going to be annoying, I tried to snatch it from her, but she jumped out of the way. I grabbed one end, she held onto the other.

"Hey! Rude!" She yelled.

"That belongs to Hat Kid, not you! Respect others' property!" I yelled back, and we both let go at once, causing it to fall to the floor. The kid became extremely panicked and tried catching it but wasn't fast enough, so the object fell to the floor and broke.

Something weird happened.

We were back in the positions we were in a few seconds ago, with Moustache Girl doing a tossing motion.

"Are they some sort of rare c- wait, huh?" She said. Then, I put two and two together. That object must've rewound Time itself.

"Holy... th-that just rewinded time!" I shouted, and Moustache Girl looked down at the object.

"Whoa, _**what?!**_" She shouted, then picked it up and pointed at it. "Wh- did, um, did you know about this?"

Hat Kid ripped it from her hands, then nodded. That explains a lot, particularly why she was so fricking hostile to me.

Moustache Girl suddenly jumped for joy, startling me. "This. Is. Crazy!" She squealed, "Do you even know what could be done with these?!" Hat Kid scratched her head, clearly uncomfortable. I was about to step in, but I wanted to hear what she had to say. Moustache Girl skipped ahead a little bit. "We could make it so you weren't punched in the face by the Mafia that one time!" She suggested, and I shook my head.

Something seemed... off about her. She seemed a bit... unhinged, I suppose. She put her fist in her hand. "We could beat up the Mafia, travel back in time, then beat 'em up again!" She shouted, and I scratched my head. Yeah, she's definitely not entirely stable.

"Um," Hat Kid said very quietly.

Moustache Girl put her arm around Hat Kid's shoulder and looked down again. "No, wait, even better! We could make it so the Mafia never even arrived on the island!" She yelled. That seemed more reasonable, but still was a stupid idea.

"Enough," I grumbled, but wasn't heard.

Moustache Girl put her fist to the sky, and a spotlight came on them. "Wait, wait, even better, we could be crime-fighting time travellers!" She shouted, and Hat Kid stepped back, shook her head no, and put the object away.

Moustache Girl seemed shocked. "Wait, what? This doesn't make any sense!" She pouted, and I got between them.

"Actually, it's perfectly reasonable. With great power comes great responsibility, and she just happens to have what seems to be the most powerful objects in existence. Your ideas are irresponsible and rash. So, she's doing the right thing by refusing you," I explained, but she pushed my out of the way, causing me to curse. Getting shoved was one thing I hated more than anything else.

"You have all this power, and you're not gonna use it to fight evil?" She hissed, and Hat Kid shook her head 'no' stubbornly. Moustache Girl turned away, seeming to throw a temper tantrum. "If you're not gonna use them to fight evil, then _I will!_" She grumbled, then ran up to Hat Kid and pointed at her. "I'll collect all the Time Pieces for myself! You have my word on it!" She screamed, then ran off.

Hat Kid seemed troubled and sad. I got up and knelt down to her.

"You ok, kid?" I asked, and she nodded sadly. Then, she put her hands on her pockets, gasped, checked all of her pockets, and pouted. "What's wrong?" I asked, then she held up a pon. I put it together. "She stole your pons?" I asked, and she nodded. I ran over to where she took off, but she was gone.

"That little sh-" I hissed under my breath, then turned back to Hat Kid. "Well, at least she didn't steal anything else, eh?" I said, and she nodded. "Well, I guess I should be going. We're both probably on the Mafia's hit list right now," I said, then walked away, when I felt a tugging on my sweater.

I looked down to see the kid staring up at me in a pleading tone. "Hmm?" I mumbled, "Oh, do you want me to come with you back to your ship?" She nodded. Well, she did just lose a friend.

"Ok, kiddo. I guess I've earned your trust now," I said, then followed her outside. I stared up at the night sky, it had stopped raining. "How exactly do we get up to your ship?" I asked, then she gave me a mischevious grin, grabbed my wrist, held out the Time Piece, and closed her eyes.

Everything went light blue, and when it dispersed, we were inside Hat Kid's ship. Before I could do anything, she put the Time Piece in the vault and ran off. So, she'd collected four of them now, for whatever reason.

I walked over to the large monitor to see how many she'd collected, and it said 4/56. Fifty-six?! Were they scattered over the whole planet or something? I was startled from my thoughts by a tug on my sweater again, and Hat Kid handed me something. It looked like a small manual.

On the front, it read: "Hat Kid's instruction booklet (For new friends! =D)" I chuckled, then realized something.

"Oh, kid, you mean you want me to, like, help you? Assist you on your journey?" I asked, and she nodded rapidly. "Well, I'd be honoured to," I said, then opened the manual. The front page showed drawings in a comic-book style, and it showed her waking up, walking out over to the large monitor to observe her progress, and it showed 56/56 on the monitor, when she was startled by a knocking.

She ran over to the hatch of the ship, and was greeted by an angry Mafia Goon who demanded a toll. She refused, which angered the Goon into attacking the hatch, which caused it to smash open, sucking him and Hat Kid out, and opening the vault, causing all of the Time Pieces to spill over the planet.

I looked down at the kid. "Oh, wow, kid. I'm sorry about that little incident of yours, that's such a shame," I said, and she shrugged her shoulders.

The rest of the manual was basic stuff, like advice on fighting, where I'd be sleeping, what I could do to help, etc. I was over the moon, though. Now I felt like I could actually do something good, I have somewhere to stay, and I'd be adventuring with the most wonderful little girl in the Universe. What could be better?

The last page were her rules. Rule 1 (most important): Don't touch the Time Pieces or do anything without permission. Okay, that made sense. Rule 2: Obey [her] orders. Also made sense. Rule 3: Be nice. Well, that was expected. Rule 4: Don't be boring, have fun! Misery, laziness, and apathy will not be tolerated on this ship. Also understandable for a little girl.

I put down the booklet with a grin on my face, and she looked up at me in anticipation. She must want to know what I thought of it.

"Y'know kid, that was a pretty good instruction booklet. I know exactly what I'm supposed to do now," I said, and she hopped with joy, giggling. I chuckled. Then, she yawned. Oh, right, it was pretty late.

I smiled. "Okay, kiddo, you should probably go to bed now. I can get you a glass of water or something if you like," I muttered, and she shook her head no.

"I can do it myself," She said, which caused me to raise an eyebrow. She clearly spoke rarely, so if she spoke now to say that, that's kind of odd.

"Y'sure, kid? It's not like it's an inconvenience for me, I'd be happy to," I said, and she stared at me.

"I'm fine," She said annoyedly., then walked over to the kitchen. I could hear running water, and she emerged later with a glass of water. She walked over to her bedroom door, which didn't open, so I pried it open for her and the next door into the actual bedroom.

"Good night," I said, and she nodded, then walked over to her bed. I closed the doors, returned to the main hub of the ship, made my way to my sleeping area, which was a small hammock in a small alcove that I could just barely fit in, and shook my head.

She seemed to be troubled when I asked her if she wanted me to help her. That's not good. Not at all.

What has she seen?

What had she gone through that had made her so... insecure and irritable about a trivial, nice favour as getting someone a glass of water for bed, or tucking them in?

What kind of monstrosity might she have witnessed, or fell victim to?

Or maybe I'm just overthinking, and she doesn't trust me enough yet.

God, I hope so. Such a pure being doesn't deserve trauma.

**A/N: As you can see, Nyakuza Metro will be a part of this story. I'm also giving Hat Kid a different backstory. But, don't get your hopes up. No matter what way you slice it, I'm sure the only way the game makes sense is if she has a tragic backstory. So, there's still gonna be some sadness in this story. Furthermore, this story has nothing to do with my other book series for this game, other than the game itself and basic things like that. There may be similar twists and whatnot, but that's it. Nothing else.**


	4. Chapter 3: Hat Trick

Chapter 3: Hat Trick

I woke up later with a groan. Sleeping in that small hammock was not pleasant. I could hardly move. Anyway, when I got up, I noticed the kid wasn't up yet, so I decided to go into the kitchen and try to prepare something.

Well, now. Doing that made me remember something very important: I'm an absolutely terrible cook. I tried making pancakes, but ended up making a giant mess. And, of course, it was me screwing up when the kid decided to wake up.

I heard the doors open behind me and turned to see her giving me the most confused and puzzled look I've ever seen. I just sighed and shrugged my shoulders, and she began giggling like mad.

"Let's just pretend that never happened," I advised, and she nodded, but by the look on her face I knew she wasn't going to live it down. She ran over to the fridge, which contained a variety of... weird items. A burger with tentacles? Spaghetti with eyes?

"What the...?" I muttered, and she gave me an annoyed glare. She rummaged around until she found a box of cereal. So she did have normal food, good. "Well, I'll be waiting in the main hub if you need me," I said, then left.

About 15 minutes later, she jumped through the doors and landed next to me. "So, what are we doing today, kiddo?" I asked, and she pointed down at Mafia Town. She tugged on my sweater and brought me back into the kitchen, and pointed at the telescope.

"What, kid?" I asked, and she pointed at it again. "What about your telescope?" I asked again, and she facepalmed.

"Look through it, you dunce!" She shouted.

"Oh, ok," I said while chuckling. When I looked through the telescope, I saw Mafia Town, and I focused on the geyser. Seconds later, I heard a wooshing noise and I was in the air above the geyser.

I landed on a platform, this time more gracefully, and a few seconds later, the kid landed right next to me. She jumped in the air and clapped with joy.

"So, what exactly are we doing?" I asked, and she motioned for me to follow her, which I did, until we came to a golden vault. "Oh, I see. You want to open this," I muttered, and she nodded.

"Split up," She said.

"Wait, how do we know where the codes are?" I asked, and she jumped on the vault, which caused it to release four golden-white trails. She took off after one, and I took off after another. I jumped down and around until I came to a large ship.

Out of curiosity, I checked the name of the ship. S.S. None of your business. Sounds about right for a Mafia boat. I jumped up to a deck and saw the code ticket there, and grabbed it. Then, I returned to the vault, which took a little while, but whatever.

In the time it took for me to collect one, she'd already collected two. But, then again, she took the two that were closest to the vault. The last one was in the Market district. I watched her take off for the market district. She put on a red and white running cap, and it seemed that as soon as she did that, she became even faster, going so fast she left behind a trail of dust.

It was amazing to observe. I guessed that she had a multitude of hats and each gave her different abilities or whatnot. She returned a couple minutes later with the ticket, and I gave her the ticket I collected.

"So, your hats aren't just for show, eh?" I asked, and she nodded sheepishly, almost like she was embarrassed about it. "Kid, don't be embarrassed about that. That's an amazing ability, I wish I had a trait even remotely as cool as that," I told her, and she smiled.

She put the codes into the vault, and out popped a Time Piece. She jumped down and grabbed it, then grabbed my wrist. A few seconds later, and poof, we were back on the ship.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," I grumbled.

"Better than jumping," She said, which made me frown. I wouldn't be able to do it.

"Do you have any other hats?" I asked out of curiosity, and she nodded. She pulled out what seemed to be a witch hat with some vials on the side, reached out her hand, and a flask filled with purple liquid appeared, and she began shaking it, then chucked it at some barrels, which caused it to explode.

"_Holy-!_" I shouted, "That doesn't seem safe." She rolled her eyes and gave me a look that said it was fine. "Well, what else do you plan on doing today?" I asked, then walked over to the window and looked out, waiting for some sort of response.

However, I saw a large blotch of orange-red and yellow covering Mafia Town and the oceans around it.

"Kid?" I called, and she walked over.

"Eh?" She said upon seeing the sight.

"We need to go down there and see what's happening," I advised, and she nodded. We ran over to the kitchen and peered through the telescope. When I landed, I felt a huge blast of heat immediately.

I'd have taken off my sweater... but... It felt too important to me, like it was a piece to a puzzle I need to complete, or a key to my locked memories. So, to avoid risking it burning, I kept it on.

However, I realized the orange goop was lava, molten rock. The geyser was now a volcano, spewing out lava instead of water. We walked over to a strange looking Mafia with weird goggles. He turned to us and shook his head.

"Look at mess! This is terrible!" He grumbled, "Someone turn on all faucets in Mafia Town, same faucets that control town volcano!"

"Why the hell did you make that?!" I yelled.

"It was only way to make geyser spew water endlessly!" He explained, and I grumbled. He turned to Hat Kid. "Was it you, child?" He asked, and she shook her head no. "No? Mafia think he saw a little girl turn on all faucets."

I clenched my fists and began shaking with rage, knowing full well who that 'little girl' was. She needed a good whack to the face to set her straight. Not that I'd do that, I mean. She was just a little girl, after all. I mean, I also don't know the situation, so maybe I shouldn't jump to conclusions.

I shook away the thought. The Mafia man seemed hopeful. "Little hat kid and mega guy, can you save Mafia Town by turning off all faucets?" He pleaded, and we both nodded at once. He seemed overjoyed. "If you close all, maybe water start flowing again!"

"Ok, kid, let's get going. Should we split up?" I asked.

"Um," She said, "Actually... I'd prefer if you stayed here."

"Why would I do that?" I asked.

She gave me a stubborn look that screamed 'Because I said so'.

"Can you at least tell me why you feel I should stay here?" I asked.

"I collected two tickets in the time it took you to get one. I'm much more able than you, I don't need you killing yourself by jumping into lava," She hissed. Woah, I wasn't expecting _that._

"Kid, what happens to me isn't important. I'm a nobody. No one to be concerned about. What happens to _you _is what's important, and I'm not gonna stand around and let a kid go jump around a lava-ridden wasteland unsupervised," I grumbled.

"You'd just be a liability! I can handle myself! I've done it practically my whole life!" She yelled, "So, you stay here!"

Wow.

"I-uh... fine," I said, and sat down. Then I thought of something. "Wait, can I at least go around and help people?" I pleaded.

She shrugged her shoulders. I guess that meant she didn't really care. She then took off. I frowned. It felt wrong to not go after her, make sure she didn't hurt herself. But, she could take care of herself, I knew that. Bah, whatever.

I took off as well, and began helping Mafia members out of the lava and telling them to go to the steam cannon to the headquarters. Bad people or not, they don't deserve to die in a fire. Far too extreme.

Eventually, I made my way to the platform where the empty golden vault was on and walked around, making sure there were no more Mafia to save. I was satisfied that everyone that could be saved was saved.

Then I saw something that made my heart skip a beat. Hat Kid was hanging off the side of a platform, feet dangling above the lava, and she couldn't reach up and pull herself up. I could faintly hear her scream out for help.

I began sprinting and jumping toward her faster than I ever could've thought possible.


	5. Chapter 4: Shenanigans

Chapter 4: Shenanigans

I made my way to the tower extremely quickly. It was a bell tower with a faucet on one side that was spewing lava.

"Kid!" I shouted, and she looked over to see me. "Hang in there! I'm coming!" I yelled, and she gave me an irritated look that just said: 'I'm not _trying _to let go, dummy!'

I managed to jump up onto the faucet. I didn't even think to turn it off. The kid mattered more. I jumped up inside the tower, and saw her hanging on for dear life.

Just then, her grip failed and she fell with a scream. I reached down and grabbed her hand before that could happen, and pulled her up.

"What did I tell you?" I hissed, furious.

"I'm sorry," She said, then she jumped at me and hugged me. I was so surprised I fell backward, but I didn't fall off. My anger ceased instantly.

"It's alright, kid, you're safe now. You did the right thing," I said quietly, then stood up. "What now?" I asked. She pointed down at the faucet.

"Turn it off, I want you to do it," She said.

"I'm not touching that, I'll burn myself," I said. After I said that, she grinned and pulled something out of her pocket. It looked like a black baton with sapphire lightning bolts covering it.

"This is for you!" She said, and I took it.

"How did you get this?" I asked uncomfortably.

"I stole it," She said quietly.

"From who?" I asked.

"Mafia," She answered, "I decorated it."

I chuckled. That sounded about right. "This is great, kiddo. Thanks, really. I've been meaning to get a weapon," I said, and she gave me an annoyed look and pointed at the faucet again. "Oh, right," I muttered.

I jumped down next to the faucet and whacked it a few times to turn it. Sure enough, after a few whacks it turned off. Rumbling was heard, and we both looked up to see the geyser begin spewing water again.

That was a relief. The heat was really beginning to get to me. We returned to where we met the scientific Mafia Goon, but no one was there. However, the steam cannon was opened. Hat Kid motioned for me to jump in, and I did so.

When I landed, my jaw dropped. The Mafia had prepared a banquet for us, there were golden statues of both the kid and me, the Mafia Boss' 'throne' was there. I heard someone land, and a small gasp.

I looked behind me to see a very surprised Hat Kid taking in the sight. I smiled at her.

"See, kiddo? You did the right thing. You're a hero," I told her, and she began bouncing up and down with glee, giddy as a schoolgirl. I turned to see the scientific Mafia Goon grinning like mad.

"You did it! Small child and tall guy saved Mafia Town!" He congratulated, "Now Mafia no longer need to eat lava for breakfast, amazing!"

I chuckled, sensing he was joking. "Well, we couldn't just let that little moustached pest burn down the town," I explained, and he pointed to a large silver platter.

"Please, take this as trophy. You are truly heroes of Mafia Town!" He shouted, and the whole Mafia cheered in agreement. I knelt down to the kid and put my hand on her shoulder.

"You do the honours, kiddo," I said, and she ran up to the platter and opened it, revealing a Time Piece. She grabbed it immediately, did her little jig, and grabbed my hand. We waved, then Hat Kid held the Time Piece to the sky, and a few seconds later, we were back on the ship.

I grumbled. I didn't have a change of clothes or anything. I turned to the kid.

"Kid, once all this lava is gone, I'm gonna have to go down and buy some clothes or whatever. I can't wear the same outfit forever," I said, then she grinned.

"Actually," She said, then grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward a closet, then rummaged through it, emerging later with a pile of clothes that seemed bigger than her.

She plonked it down, and I took a shirt off of the top pile. I looked at it. It seemed perfect size.

"I bought these while you were asleep," She explained.

"I... wow. Thanks, kid," I thanked, very surprised. Getting me a weapon? Well, I needed one if I want to help her. Buying me things I'd actually need to live? I thought I was gonna be on my own for that one.

She showed me where the bathroom was and I got myself cleaned up, yada yada yada. Hopefully such an atrocious event wouldn't happen again. I don't feel like going through any more stupidity.

After all that, I was sitting in the main hub when the kid tapped me on the shoulder. I looked over, and she showed me a poster. The poster seemed to be advertising a movie studio run entirely by birds. She then pointed out the window to where the studio was located.

"Great, kid, but how are we gonna get there? The telescope in the kitchen only focuses on Mafia Town," I grumbled. She then pulled me over to a door, an orange door with a small monitor next to it with an exclamation mark on it, and she tapped it.

Whirring of machinery was heard, and the door opened.

A male automated voice blared through the ship: "Power restored to automated voice systems and machine room."

I chuckled. She motioned for me to follow her into the machine room, and I did so. It literally was a machine room, full of various machines and stuff I could not comprehend, and housed the supercomputer that ran the ship. I felt something bump into my foot, and looked down to see a small circular device with a face running around.

Hat Kid giggled, picked it up, ran back into the main hub, and set it down.

"I call him Rumbi," She said.

"How adorable," I said sarcastically, and she rolled her eyes. We went back into the Machine Room, and she pointed at another telescope. I looked through it, and it revealed a large desert covered in train tracks with a large building in the center.

The building must be the studio. It seemed oddly familiar, but I knew I've never seen it before. I must've seen something similar at home, wherever the hell home is.

I peered down at the studio, and a few seconds later, I landed outside. It was hot and dry out, but nowhere near as unbearably hot as it was earlier in Mafia Town. I looked around at the scene. There was a train parked nearby, and I was standing in the parking lot.

However, I was rudely startled from my sightseeing when something landed on top of me. I heard giggling, and whatever landed on top of me got off. I stood up, and the kid was there, giggling like mad. I gave her a look of disappointment, but she just tilted her head and shrugged her shoulders.

Something told me this was just the beginning of her shenanigans.


	6. Chapter 5: Peck Neck!

Chapter 5: Peck Neck!

We entered the building and were greeted by what seemed to be a standoff between a disco penguin and a... yellow... bird-like... thing. I scratched my head and we just observed.

"This movie studio is too big for the both of us, DJ Grooves!" The bird hissed, "The movie should be made by _real _birds! You Moon Penguins are just gonna write some **loud, noisy drivel!** If I wanted a bunch of peck necks to dance around while on birdseed, ha, I'd visit me grandchildren!"

I smirked at the irony of his second statement. The penguin, who we guessed was named DJ Grooves, did some gaudy jig and piped up: "Nonsense, darling, nonsense. You Owl Express birds are just going to record another boring train-related western. You've done so for the last ten years, darling."

I peered over to look at some posters on the wall, and it was true. The yellow-feathered bird wouldn't have it. "Wha-? No we haven't, ye buffoon!" He scoffed.

DJ Grooves seemed disapproving. "Conductor, darling, this year we'll be winning the annual bird movie award, as our new movie props will bring in the audiences!" He bragged, then turned around and motioned for a group of penguins to carry a case full of glowy objects behind him.

I looked inside the case. Oh, hell. The props were Time Pieces, of course they were. I silently grumbled and turned to the kid.

"Well, looks like we're gonna have to sneak through this studio to get your Time Pieces back," I told her, and she shrugged her shoulders. "Wait, have you actually done this before?" I asked, then she scratched her head and shrugged her shoulders again.

I turned back to the two birds. I missed something the DJ said but didn't deem it important.

"Oh, yeah? Well, this time around we're also spicin' it up with our newest movie props!" Conductor taunted, then motioned for some owls to bring in a case filled with, oh joy, even more Time Pieces. "These hourglass thingies will be the grand jewel in our train heist western!" He bragged.

Not if we could help it. The two birds examined eachother's props and realized something.

"_**WHADDA WHAT?!**_" Conductor screeched, causing everyone except DJ Grooves to jump. "You no-good dirty peck necks! You copied our props!" He shouted, and I could hardly keep myself from laughing. 'Peck neck?' I thought I misheard before, but, no, he definitely said that.

DJ Grooves shook his head. "I would never, darling! Clearly you're the one who took inspiration in my flashy new props!" He hissed.

Conductor stomped the ground in frustration. "Oh, that does it! Get outta here with ye, I've got a movie to record!" He barked, and the DJ walked over to the door.

"Fine by me, darling, but we'll be the ones who win the annual bird movie award, mark my word!" He shouted, then walked through the door. The penguins followed him.

The Conductor walked over to the giant double doors, which confused me. "Oh, yeah? Well, let's see how well you do when you can't get into the reception!" He shouted as he boarded up the door, then cackled evilly. Both me and the kid stared in shock.

Surely that was illegal, right? He then facepalmed. "Oh, wait, uh, shuttin' the peck necks inside the studio will force them to work harder," He grumbled, and I chuckled. Clearly he didn't think that through. He walked over to his own double doors.

"This'll be interesting," I muttered.

"Alright, time to go, owls! Let's go record our killer movie!" He shouted, then some owls got up. He turned to the receptionist. "Oh, and, receptionist, can you please close off that vent already? I don't want the smell of penguin to come anywhere near my crew!" He ordered, but the receptionist seemed to ignore him.

He shook his head and walked through the door, and most of the owls followed him. One stopped in front of the door as a lookout. The kid ran forward toward the receptionist and waved at him.

"Oh, hey, little chirper! They're recording right now, so no one is allowed in," He explained, "We're only insured for bird staff. Letting you in would be a liability, so don't even think about sneaking inside." She frowned, and he took off his glasses. "Young lady, if I catch you in the studio, you'll receive a ticket so big you'll be in debt for years!" He hissed, and I got between them.

"Listen here, buddy. She's just a kid. So you'd better can it before I get angry," I warned, and he just rolled his eyes.

"Fine. If that's the case, take this," He grumbled, then handed me a piece of paper. It looked like a blank bill.

"Ok?" I said, then walked away. The kid was staring at a sunglasses dispenser, and cranked the lever, giving her a pair of sunglasses. Curious, I cranked the lever as well, and I was given a pair of sunglasses as well, which surprisingly fit me.

There was one pair of glasses left in the machine, and the kid cranked the lever again, but ended up breaking it somehow. The receptionist grumbled, and the kid took off, climbing a trophy case and jumping on top of the door to the right.

"Kid, wait up!" I shouted, and followed her up. She crawled through the vent, and I followed her, but I was only barely able to squeeze through the vent. I fell down and landed next to her.

We got up and began sneaking around the place. She was using full finger guns, which I appreciated. We snuck around some cameras and penguins and made it to what seemed to be a trolley with a lever on it. The DJ was recording some weird disco dance video and we just snuck by him.

I flicked the lever, and we were brought to the Conductor's side of the studio. He was freaking out at his actors while trying to record... something. The recording sessions in this studio seemed frankly... stupid.

I looked around for a we could go without getting caught, and looked down to see a pipe. I jumped down onto the pipe and she jumped down as well. We continued over to the other side and jumped back up. However, the kid took off and jumped on top of a water tower prop before I could stop her, and jumped back over holding a ball of blue yarn.

She motioned for me to look away, and when I looked back, she had a blue toque with a snowflake on it. She tried to give it to me, but I put my hands up in refusal.

"No, no, kid, that's yours. That probably wouldn't fit over my big head anyway," I whispered, and she just nodded slowly. We continued into what seemed to be a saloon, avoided more owls, and ran over to another trolley.

The lever to this trolley was guarded by an owl. I pointed at the trolley and the kid hopped on, then when the owl looked away, I whacked the switch and jumped on. I looked back to see the owl looking around in confusion, but he seemed to go back to his duties.

The platform ahead split off into two paths, a plank to another platform on the left and a tightrope to the right. The tightrope led to a dead end so I tilted my head left to notify her. She nodded and we walked over the plank.

The platform was guarded by a Moon Penguin, but we just jumped over him and bounced across some sandbags to get to another platform. I was kinda dizzy after that, but snapped out of it.

We jumped on more sandbags to get back over to the Conductor's side of the studio, and I... Words could not describe the idiocy that was whatever the hell he was recording. We jumped down to a lower platform that had some tipis and a switch on it.

But, the switch was guarded by an owl. I motioned for Hat Kid to go to the right and hide behind a couple of tipis, then when the owl turned away, I whacked the switch and ran out of view.

The owl heard this and turned back to the switch, but didn't see me, so he turned back to the trolley. I whacked the switch again and we jumped onto the trolley just as he turned around again.

Idiots. Absolute idiots. You hear and see some strange crap and don't go to check it out when you're running watch? Stupid stupid stupid. Well, at least we didn't get caught. The trolley brought us to a grate and a stupidly, and I mean _stupidly _large group of speakers, and I don't mean the group was large, but the speakers themselves. They were like 2-3 times taller than me.

Anyway, we jumped over the speakers and got to a long platform with a grate dividing it in half. There were many cameras and penguins around, there was no way we were going to make it through that. I looked around, and saw a power box. I pointed at the power, and she gave me a devilish grin and nodded.

I turned off the power and we bolted to the other side, and when the power came back on, I turned off the power again. When we made it to the other end, I heard the penguins cursing and arguing. I cringed. We were going to be in _BIG_ trouble if we were caught, now.

Regardless, we hopped onto another trolley. This trolley had the switch actually on it, a welcome change. I flicked it, and it began moving... very slowly... to the other side. I looked ahead and saw that some penguins and owls were going to be glancing at the trolley occasionally.

"Kid, use your ice hat when we pass by the directors," I said, and she nodded. When an owl or penguin did look at the trolley, I just ran to the other side, and they must have some bad tunnel vision, because I wasn't spotted.

When we made it to the other side, she broke from her icy form and we continued. I kicked down a tipi so we could get a bridge to another platform. Two owls were patrolling above us, and when they passed, we jumped up onto their platform then jumped up before they could spot us.

We did the same thing again, then came to a wall with two openings, each blocked by an owl. The kid ran up to the wall and wall jumped off of it, which allowed her to jump over.

I scratched my head. How was I supposed to do that? I watched her pick up a rock and toss it behind one of the owls, and both owls turned around. The other owl walked over to see what was going on, and I used this chance to sneak through, and we jumped over to another platform, which had a U.F.O. prop on it.

A Moon Penguin was patrolling through a small passage, and when he ran to the other side, Hat Kid ran and jumped into a small hole in the wall. I just gave in and tried to jump in as well, but I didn't make it.

I grabbed onto the edge and was able to pull myself up, barely. I looked down to see the penguin walk by us, then we jumped down and ran to the other side. We saw some sandbags leading down to a red carpet, and bounced off of them to get to it.

The kid ran up ahead, and I followed her. I was surprised to see DJ Grooves up at the end, staring at a stupidly large trophy.

"Magnificent! Stunning! This trophy is everything I desire, on the shelf of my living room!" He marveled, and I shook my head. You'd need a ridiculously sized shelf for that. "Of course, this big trophy is just a plastic replica. The actual trophy is really tiny," He mumbled, and I let out a small sigh.

Oops. He noticed it and turned around, but didn't see me. He was looking at the kid. "Oh my, oh my! What is this I see?" He exclaimed, "Is it true inner beauty? An innocent soul with a heart of gold?"

She stared at him in surprise, and I (barely) suppressed my snickers. "Oh, no, it's just a little girl," He said, then turned and looked up at me. "And, it seems, her older brother. Hello," He said, and I stared at him.

What did he just call me?

"Excuse me, sir, but you didn't just call me... her older brother, did you?" I asked, and he nodded. "Uhh, I'll just say... I'm not."

"Oh, apologies, I just assumed from the whole situation," He muttered.

"No, no, it's fine," I replied.

"Oh, wait, you're not penguins," He said, "That's good! I could use some non-penguin company around here, as all my penguins are frankly terrible actors."

"What do you mean?" I asked, then remembered something. That receptionist dude gave me a bill. I took it out, and was surprised to see a bunch of things written across it. I cursed under my breath.

The kid gave me a concerned and confused glance, and I looked at the number written at the bottom. The grand total was:

"Twenty-one frickin' thousand pons?!" I shouted, and the DJ cleared his throat, grabbing my attention.

"Here's the biz: I need your help. I'm on a terrible losing streak, and I just _have _to win this next annual bird movie award. There's no doubt; I absolutely **must** have you both as the stars!" He exclaimed, then snatched the paper from my hands. "Here, let me take care of this," He said, then tore it in two.

I'm not sure if that was allowed, but who cares? I smiled, and the kid jumped up and down in joy. The penguin then jumped behind a stand off to the side.

"We need to give you each a bird passport, darling! Step right over here," He ordered, then looked down at the kid. "The most important part of the passport is the picture, darling! You have to look flashy and stunning!" He said, then looked at me. "Step right over here," He demanded. I did so, and pushed up my shades and tugged my hood down, then stuck my fingers up in a peace symbol.

The picture was taken, and I got out of the way. He then turned to the kid. "Your turn, darling!" He said, and the kid practically skipped her way over to the camera.

"Try not to move, kiddo," I said, and she nodded. She put on a really nice smile, but I saw that the DJ was having some technical difficulties, and walked over to help him.

The camera refused to take the picture, and wouldn't give a clue as to why. I saw out of the corner of my eye the kid walking over, and then of course, the camera took the picture.

I facepalmed, then walked away. The DJ examined the photos.

"Let's see how these turned out..." He mumbled, "Wh-wha?!" He shouted, and I turned around to look at him. He was cringing at a photo.

"Let me guess, my photo sucked," I said, and he shook his head and looked down at the kid.

"Darling, you moved! The picture is ruined! How could you?!" He grumbled, and the kid frowned and looked away. She almost seemed... afraid. Now, she didn't scare easily, I knew this from her fighting the Mafia Boss, so this combined with how she reacted when I offered to help her get to bed earlier gave me a _really _bad feeling.

"I-I didn't mean to," She said, and I immediately ran over to her and knelt down to her so I could comfort her. I looked up to the DJ and gave him the nastiest look I could muster.

"I..." He said, and I got up and looked him in the eye.

"Lemme make something crystal clear," I hissed, "If you ever hurt her, or put her in danger, _you. Will. Regret. It._"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... to disturb her. I was just annoyed at the photo. She'll be safe with me, I promise," He said, and I nodded.

"Good," I said. He then cleared his throat.

"We've gotta fix this ugly mugshot up with some good old-fashioned photo doctoring!" He exclaimed, "Take these markers and turn yourself into the most stylish, fashionable young lady!"

The kid got up, took the markers, and began drawing while I just sat back. She gave the DJ the edited photo.

"Perfect, let's slide these pictures into your passports, and... here you go! Two bird passports for the two of you!" He exlaimed, then handed the kid her passport and handed me my passport. I looked inside, and was satisfied with the photo.

"So, we're legally birds now?" I thought aloud.

"Wonderful, darlings, just wonderful! Meet me at the movie set tomorrow, and we'll make you into stars!" He exclaimed, then took off.

"Isn't their movie set on the moon or something?" I asked, and the kid nodded.

"Hey! Whatcha think yer doin'?!" A Scottish accent shouted, and we both jumped. We turned to see a certain yellow bird stomp over to us. I was to tall for him to confront, so he stared at the kid. "Oh, ye can't just jump in and fiddle with the annual bird movie award, that's fraud! Fraaaaaaauuud! Hey everyone, we've got two fraudsters over here!" He shouted, but nobody came, so I snickered. "Where are my owl guards at?! Why are the owls so darn useless?!" Conductor shouted, then turned and looked at me. "Alright, listen here, lad. Yer both in big trouble. If yer helpin' crooked DJ Grooves rig the award, and I can't bring the two of ye to jail, then ye gotta help me even the score!" He hissed, and I gave him a questioning look.

"You mean-?" I asked.

"That's right, ye gotta be the stars of my movies, too!" He explained, then turned back to the kid. "Here, take our newest prop, practice showing it off, and bring it to my movie set tomorrow. Ye got that? Don't be late!" He hissed, then tossed her a Time Piece. She caught it and did her typical pose, and the Conductor took off.

"This is going to be interesting, to say the least," I grumbled, and she nodded. She grabbed my wrist and held the Time Piece to the sky, and presto, we were back on the ship.


	7. Chapter 6: Sentinel

Chapter 6: Sentinel

I sat down at the front window and looked out onto the planet. Was this my home now? No, no. I don't know where home is. I sighed. I felt lost, like I'm running in circles but I don't know how to stop or where to go.

However, I was startled by an alarm. A voice blared out that an intruder was on the ship, and the kid bolted out into the main hub and looked up at the monitor. It had switched to a camera, and showed a... moving jar full of purple goo and some eyeballs with a moustache and an oddly familar chef's hat on it in the machine room.

We entered the room, and saw it sitting down on the ground. It seemed to... notice us.

"So we meet again! My archnemesis!" It shouted in an oddly familiar masculine Italian accent, looking straight at the kid.

"Who... and what... are you?" I asked.

"What?! You don't remember me?! How rude!" It.. or he... shouted, "It's me! Boss of the Mafia, remember?"

"Oh," I said.

"How'd you become...?" The kid asked, and he stared dead into her eyes.

"You blew me up in our little dispute, and your friend put my remains in a jar!" He yelled, "I should be furious! But, it's okay. The past is the past, and I'll accept your _carcass_ as an apology!"

She gasped and stepped back, and I immediately got between them.

"Listen up, you pathetic piece of trash. That's not going to happen," I hissed.

"What? You won't hand it over?! Such nerve on a young adult! If I had hands, I would slap you!" He shouted.

"You wouldn't dare, if you knew what's good for you," I spat back.

"Whatever, I'll just buy a new body! There must be some poor soul out there willing to trade their corpse for money," He grumbled.

"Okay, if that's the case, get out," I ordered.

"Wait, wait, wait! I may not look like it right now, but I'm well traveled. I know every corner of this planet, and I can help you find relics that can make you rich!" He explained happily.

"Go on," I said, and a merchant stand appeared from nowhere.

"Buy my map badge, and it can show you where relics are hiding!" He stated, and the kid stood up and bought it from him.

"Thank you!" She said happily.

"Just equip the badge whenever you need to find relics," He said, and she nodded, then walked out of the room. I walked out as well, until I heard the boss grumble something about 'his revenge'. I ground to a halt and stomped back into the room.

I picked him up roughly and held him high up into the air.

"Let me make something clear, _**PAL.**_ If you ever, _EVER_ hurt her, then I don't give a damn what I need to do. I don't care if I need to find you a body, crack your stupid jar body, shove you into an oven and crank it to broil, I don't give a single damn care in the world. I will find a way to kill you if you ever hurt her," I warned, "Are we clear?!"

"Y-yes," He said, and I put him back down.

"_**GOOD,**_" I hissed, "She means the world to me. She's the only person here who's been kind to me, and she's the best person I know. If she ever got hurt, and I did nothing to stop it, I'd never forgive myself."

I walked out of the machine room. The kid was sitting on the carpet, just looking out the window. I sat down next to her. It was getting pretty late now, and she yawned.

"I guess it's time for bed now, kid?" I asked, and she nodded. "You want me to help you, or are you good?"

She smiled. "I'd appreciate it if you tucked me in," She said, and I smiled.

"Ok, I'll go get you a glass of water," I said, and she lied down on the carpet. I got the glass of water, set it down, pried open the doors to her bedroom, and motioned for her to get up.

"No," She said.

"If you don't get up I'll pick you up," I warned, and she just blew a raspberry at me. "Okay," I said, then picked up the glass in one hand and then picked the kid up gently with my other arm.

It was just then I saw something that made me cringe. It looked like a scar under her right ear.

"Kid? That's a nasty scar. How'd you get that?" I asked, and she froze. She said nothing. I laid her down in her bed. "Kiiiid?"

"I... no. I-I..." She said. She was refusing to tell me. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to, kid," I said, "But, I just want to tell you this. If you ever need to let something out, or say something, or are looking for someone to explain things to to clear your mind, I'm here for you, not for anyone else. You can tell me anything. I won't judge you."

She smiled tiredly and sadly at me. "Thank you," She said, and hugged me. I hugged her back.

"It's the least I could do, kiddo," I said, then she let go and lied down in her bed. "Good night," I said, then left the room.

What felt like an hour later, I heard her calling for me.

"Mega?" She shouted.

"What do you need, kiddo?" I asked.

"Can you come here?" She asked, and I went in. She seemed sad.

"What's wrong, kid?" I asked.

"Nightmare," She said sadly. "I... don't want to fall sleep now."

This seemed very familiar to me. I gasped, and right before my eyes, I saw something.

_"Mom? Dad?"_

_"Did you get a nightmare again?"_

_"Y-yes."_

_"If I sing to you, will you go back to sleep?"_

_"I... think so."_

_"Okay, sweetie."_

The flashback disappeared.

The kid tilted her head in confusion, probably to ask me what happened.

"I... I think I just saw..." I muttered, "I remember, I had nightmares too when I was around your age."

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah. My mother would sing to me to get me to fall back asleep," I said.

"Can you sing to me?" She asked.

I could not believe what I just heard. "Me? Sing? To you?" I exclaimed, and she frowned.

"_Pleeeease?_" She begged.

"I would, kiddo, I honestly would. And, to emphasize it, I don't think I've ever sung for anyone, ever. I'm not the singing type. But, I don't remember any songs, and I know for a fact my singing voice is terrible," I explained sadly, "I'm sorry, kid."

She pouted. "Is there anything you like? Anything that relaxes you? I want to help you. For all we know, singing wouldn't have worked anyway," I said.

"Uhh, I used to get myself a warm glass of milk when I couldn't sleep," She said, and I frowned. Where were her parents in all of this?

Oh.

It finally clicked in my head.

She was an orphan, wasn't she?

I smiled at her.

"Okay, I'll get you a warm glass of milk. Try to fall back asleep, I'll wait in here," I said, and she smiled.

"Okay," She said, and I left and got her a warm glass of milk. I set it down on her nightstand far away from her hat, and sat down at a desk. I got up a couple of minutes later to check on her, and she was sleeping like a baby.

No matter what happens, I'll protect her. I'll be her sword and her shield; her sentinel.


	8. Chapter 7: Information

Chapter 7: Information

I fell asleep soon after that. An alarm woke us both up the next day, and we got ready as soon as physically possible, as we thought we were late. The Conductor did _NOT _seem like the type of person you'd wanna keep waiting.

After we finished getting ready, we bolted for the Machine Room and I looked through the telescope, and focused on the Owl Express. A few seconds later, I landed at the caboose. There wasn't enough room to move out of the way, so I put my hands up and the kid landed on them. I let her down to the ground. I checked the time. We were super early.

"I feel like you were trying to land on me there," I told her. She scratched her head and gave me a nonchalant smile.

The Conductor cleared his throat and looked at the little girl. "Welcome back, lassie! I haven't written the script for me next movie yet, so we're not recordin'. I'll call for ye and yer friend when the script's ready."

When we entered the train, we were stopped instantly by a tall, strange looking crow. He looked extremely shady.

"Why, hello, fellow owl," He said, looking down at Hat Kid. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting. As you can tell, I am also an Express Owl. I do much hooting."

She nodded slowly, not buying it. Definitely a smart kid.

"From one owl to another, we can share details, yes? What is your uncle's sister's maiden name?" He asked. Gee, that's not sketchy at all. She gave me a surprised and lost look.

"Don't say anything true, kid," I whispered to her, and she nodded.

"Pi," She said, and the crow nodded.

"Oh, it is Pi? I see, I see. This is the kind of uncle's sister's maiden name I would expect from a fellow Express Owl," He muttered, then walked away.

"Did he actually buy that?" She snickered.

"I think he did. Wanna tell more crows stupid fake details?" I asked, and she nodded. I noticed that she was speaking to me more and more. That must mean she trusts me now. Good. Let's just hope it stays that way.

She walked over to another crow and waved at them.

"Hello, fellow Express Owl. Do you care about security? I care about security a whole lot," He said.

"Oh, I bet you do," I grumbled. He either didn't hear me or ignored me.

"You should not be going around telling information to strangers. It could be a security risk!" He warned. How ironic. "I can help your daily life become more secure. What is your favourite combination of letters and numbers?"

"Say something random, kid," I whispered to her.

"12345" She said.

"I see, I see. 12345 is also my favourite combination of (no) letters and numbers," He muttered. We walked over to the door, but were stopped by a third crow.

"Did you know that having a pet helps improve self-confidence and relieves stress?" He asked, and we both nodded. "Did you know that pets can have pets? It is true!" He exclaimed.

"Mhm, sure," I grumbled.

"Unfortunately, us Express Owls are not allowed to have pets. It is a sacrifice we must make in the name of hooting," He explained sadly, "But, if you had a pet, what do you think the name of your pet's childhood pet would be?"

"Peck," She said, which made me smirk. Judging by how the Conductor used that word, it was probably a derogatory word, maybe even a curse.

"Peck is certainly an interesting name for a pet, even for a pet's pet," The crow muttered, and we continued into the next train car.

We walked in front of a blackboard and were confronted by yet another crow.

"Hello, fellow Express Owl. I am stuck on an advanced scientific and mathematical issue," He greeted, "Do you see this advanced formula on the blackboard? I cannot decipher it. Can you decipher it for me? What does it say?"

I looked at it and facepalmed. It looked like something off of an online registration form.

"DCB4ILOSE," She grumbled.

"I see! The solution is DCB4ILOSE! It was obvious! Thank you, fellow Express Owl!" He thanked, "And thank you for agreeing to the terms and conditions on the backside of the blackboard."

Hearing this, I frowned and peeked over. The entire backside had so much text written on it that it was practically illegible.

"Hold on a minute, she agreed to nothing!" I shouted, but the crow just ignored me. "I've got my eye on you, spook. You do anything, I'll know, and you'll regret it." I threatened, but was ignored again. "Let's continue," I grumbled.

After that, we decided it'd be best to avoid all crows. The next car was the cafeteria, and after that was the locomotive.

"Well, seeing as we have some time to kill, I'm gonna go do my own thing," I told her, and she nodded.

So, I did just that. I messed around and did random things until I came back into the cafeteria. The kid was holding a key and motioned for me to follow her, so I did. She opened the lock to the locomotive, breaking the lock, and we entered.

There was a gift box laid... rather conspicuously. She ran forward to it and read the tag, and motioned for me to read it.

'For the hat kid and her tall companion'

Weird. We didn't know anyone on this train, except the Conductor (hardly). Who would be giving us a gift?

"I'll open it, kiddo. Stand back, just in case," I said, and she did so. I opened it, and inside was a crime solving outfit for her, and a matching pitch-black fedora and leather trench coat. I smirked and donned them, and tossed the outfit to the kid, who donned her outfit as well.

After that, an eery jingle pierced the locomotive, and I looked over to see an old phone making the noise. I picked up the phone, because no one came in.

"Who is this?" I asked.

"Is this the kid's friend?" The person on the other end asked. They were clearly using a voice modulator, so I couldn' tell who it was.

"Yes, it's me, Mr. Mega," I said.

"Let me speak with the kid," They said, and I looked over at the kid.

"Hey, kid, it's for you," I said, and she gave me a confused look. I shrugged my shoulders, and she took the phone. I listened in.

"Is this the kid with the hat?" They asked.

"Who's asking?" She asked.

"I hope you two like my presents, heh," The voice said menacingly, "Go to the back of the train. Your uncle's sister Pi has come to see you."

The back of the train?...

Well, now.

"Uncle's sister?" She said in a tone that clearly told the voice she wasn't buying it.

"You'd better show your fam' some love, or I'll be talking to a corpse next time," The voice hissed, then hung up. She slowly hung up the phone and looked at me. I could tell instantly that she was frightened.

"I heard it all, kid. Don't worry, nothing's gonna hurt you, not with me around," I reassured, and she calmed down. "Let's go to the back of the train. I'm curious who's showed up."

I had a bad feeling about this. We made our way to the caboose and she opened the door. I heard her scream at the top of her lungs, and I bolted through the door, ready to whack someone unconscious.

I walked in on the scene of a murder. A wooden cutout of an old lady was standing in front of a dead Express Owl with a knife stuck through his back. Blood was everywhere. The kid was looking at it all, and she was shaking uncontrollably.

I got between her and the scene and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Deep breaths kid, I'm here. I'm here. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm here," I cooed, and she eventually calmed down.

I could hear the Conductor walk in from out back.

"Eh? What's goin' on-" He grumbled, then gasped at the scene. "A-a-a-a-a _**MURDER?! **_On _**MY **_Owl Express?!" He shouted.

"It seems so," I grumbled,

People began piling into the train car, and began talking amongst themselves about what they saw. Conductor was looking straight at the kid.

"I can't believe someone would murder one of the Express Owls!" He exclaimed, "And I can't believe even more that it's your uncle's sister Pi!"

He then turned and stared at the cutout. "What do ye have to say for yerself, Pi?!" He hissed, but obviously, no response came. "Oh, yer givin' me the quiet treatment, eh? That's what a _**murderer **_would do!"

I facepalmed and grunted loudly. "Conductor, it's a wooden cutout, you idiot!" I hissed, and he stood back.

"Oh, really?" He said quietly, clearly embarrassed. "But then, who did it?! Surely not y-"

"Leave this case to us."

We turned to see the crows observing the scene, some taking notes. "We're C.A.W., the Crow Agent Watch. We've been monitoring everyone on this train since the last station," The crow at the front explained.

"So, that's what the questions were for?" I asked.

"Indeed. We'll be searching the train for evidence. No one is allowed to go outside of this wagon," The crow stated.

"WHAT?! I can't even walk around in me own train? Oh, how dare ye!" Conductor hissed. The crow didn't seem to care.

"Once the clock hits midnight, we'll get off at the station with the murderer in cuffs," He explained.

"Good," I said.

"Stay here while we investigate further," The crow demanded, then they all piled out.

"Oh, those C.A.W. peck necks can't tell me what to do! I bet they committed the murder, and are destroying the evidence!" Conductor shouted.

"Perhaps. Or, maybe it was someone else. Why would federal spies or detectives murder someone?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, if you're so suspicious of them, we'll go find some evidence ourselves," I said, and he nodded.

"That's a good idea! But what if ye did it? Ye and the lass were the first people at the scene," He countered.

"Better to have two points of view than just one," I said.

"Fair enough. Get outta here," He said, and we exited into the other train car.

Time to solve a murder.


	9. Chapter 8: Plot Twist

Chapter 8: Plot Twist

**A/N: Yes, I know, I split Murder On The Owl Express into two chapters, for good reason. I want to keep the chapter length more... stable in this story, rather than have it be all peckin' over the place. Thus, I split it at the part I felt was best.**

The crows in the first train car were at work, surveying the place. We knew we'd have to avoid them, and evaded their gaze. We had to jump over a bookcase to avoid one, and we saw that the door to the Rec Room was open. She ran into the room, and I followed her.

Laid conspicuously out in front of us was a folder with the word 'CLASSIFIED' stamped on it in red. I picked it up and searched through it. Pictures, interviews, and newspapers related to the Conductor were found inside.

"Hmm, this is interesting," I grumbled, and the kid peeked to look at it. When she was done, I closed the folder and gave it to her. She's smarter than me, I'll leave the decision to her. We jumped up onto a higher level and entered into the Night Cabin.

Inside, two crows were walking in rectangles around a small wall, and because the center was glass, we could clearly see a key on the other side. I ran over to the other side, avoiding the crows, grabbed the key, and made my way back.

We went back into the Rec Room, and waited for a crow to turn away from a platform, then we jumped on said platform and jumped over to another door. Seemed like a lot of work just to navigate around a stupid train. We found ourselves on a platform above the main room, and saw a locked door on the other side.

I jumped over and unlocked the door, and the kid followed suit. The door led to the Luggage Room, which we entered. The room really was a luggage room. It was filled with stupidly high piles of suitcases and briefcases.

Another phone turned on with the same ringtone. I picked it up.

"So you think you can just sneak around the train like this?" The same voice from earlier grumbled, "Just drop the detective act. You'll never catch the real murderer, heh." Gee, how reassuring.

"Y'sure about that?" I asked smugly.

"You can't point your finger at someone without clues. The clock is ticking. Will you be able to find enough clues to point your finger at the murderer?" They asked in what seemed to be a taunting manner.

"Why don't you ask the kid that?" I replied, but they hung up. The kid gave me a questioning look. "Same person," I said, and she nodded slowly. We climbed up the small wall the phone was leaning against, and the kid grabbed a ball of yarn.

I saw that two crows seemed to be walking around something I couldn't see, and she followed them until I couldn't see her. She returned seconds later with another clue, which seemed to contain photos, interviews, and newspapers related to the C.A.W. Agents and the Agency in general.

Judging by what we saw, the Agency was a really sketchy group (Obviously) and that they've done some really shady stuff in the past to keep themselves in business.

"Well, that seems pretty conclusive," I said, and she gave me an annoyed glare.

"Just keep looking," She grumbled, and I nodded. We climbed the stupidly high piles of luggage to get to the higher level of the room, where another crow was walking to and fro, but we avoided him, and the kid stepped on a button.

The button lowered a ladder, so we could get up without going the long way. The door ahead was locked, though. She looked around and jumped toward something, and I saw her grab a ball of yarn. She then jumped down to the lower level, so I jumped down as well. I followed her back into the main room, then down and into the cafeteria.

The crows from earlier were still there, laughing away at jokes that didn't make sense. I picked up the kid and ran up the stairs while they were laughing. Seeing nothing around, we climbed up a ladder and ran into the VIP room. We saw a crow guarding the entrance to another section of the room, but he turned away, so we entered.

I felt something crunch and break beneath my feet. I looked down and saw that I'd stepped on a small glass thing.

The kid giggled quietly and mischeviously. "An owl said they'd lost their contact lens," She explained, "They're not gonna be happy."

"Oh, I'm sure they have free healthcare or something," I grumbled, "Unlike the Americans." She gave me a confused look.

"A-what-icans?" She asked, and I just thought. Wait, what is an American? Where did that come from? All I remembered was that I came from a land called Canada.

"I dunno, kid," I said, then looked around. Another file was sitting on a table, guarded by a crow. I waited for my chance, then grabbed it. I facepalmed at the contents. Pictures and interviews about 'Pi', Hat Kid's 'aunt'.

"Useless," She said, and I nodded. She then put on her top hat and closed her eyes. Seconds later, she looked at me and pointed up. I looked up and barely saw a key on a platform. She ran over to a stupidly large television, then climbed it, and jumped from platform to platform until she returned with the key.

We ran back to the locked door in the Luggage Room, and she opened it. We high-fived.

The door brought us back into the higher level of the main room, but on the other side of a wall. On a platform opposite of us, there was a button. Immediately, the kid jumped on it. The wall raised, and we saw that a crow guarding a high-tech door was lowered to the ground. We high-fived again, then jumped over and entered the door.

Woah.

This must be the crows HQ for the investigation. There were possibly a hundred of them, watching monitors... with static on them. Some were out and about, patrolling the area.

I looked up, and saw that the door to the right was locked, and that the highest door had a bigger lock on it and had 'KEEP OUT!' scribbled in red on it.

Ooh. That was gonna be interesting. But, we still had 30 'owl minutes' left, so we decided to go up and check out the Boiler Room and whatever first. The first thought that went through my mind was: 'Why does a train need such a stupidly large boiler?' In fact, why does a train need basically any of this crap?

Like, ok, an engine room, locomotive, caboose, night cabin, yes, all those rooms were necessary, but most of the train just felt... out of place. It didn't settle well with me. On the other side of the room, I saw a key next to a blue wooden springboard.

"Wait here," The kid said, then took off. There were some crows in the room, but most were seated and making jokes, so, from what I saw, she made it to the other room without issue or effort.

She grabbed the key and waved it at me, smiling. I gave her a questioning look, then she grinned. Before I could silently ask what she meant, she put on her blue toque and jumped on the blue pad, then turned into an ice sculpture.

She sprung off of the board, and I was so shocked I couldn't move out of the way. A kid-sized ice sculpture slammed right into me, and I tumbled on the ground, groaning. I heard her break free from the ice, but I didn't really care at the moment.

"Oops," She said, "You ok?"

"I feel like every bone in my body's broken," I grumbled, then got up.

"Sorry," She said quietly, and I smiled weakly.

"No, it's fine, kiddo," I said, and we exited the room. She was going to walk over to the locked door on the other side of the room, but I stopped her. "Wait, kid, let's check out the Engine Room," I suggested, and she nodded. We jumped over to the Engine Room door and entered.

It didn't look like much of an engine room. It looked like more of a really tall... room with random machinery and what seemed to be an industrial wood shredder in the center.

A familiar ringtone sounded out. This time, the kid picked it up.

"You don't give up, do you?" The voice asked. She didn't respond. "It seems the only way I can get rid of you is to make you run out of time. So, here's a fun time eater... ahem... P-Peck has gotten itself into an unusual situation. It's hanging onto a thin rope for dear life, just above a woodcutting machine. What an odd coincidence!"

"Wow, very odd," I grumbled.

"What are you gonna do? Save Peck from becoming sawdust, or figure out who the murderer is?" The voice asked, and I took the phone.

"We're gonna do both," I said, and they hung up. Hopefully they like the feeling of being handcuffed. The kid walked over to the door. "Wait, kid, let's save the dog cutout," I suggested.

"Why? It's a waste of time," She muttered.

"It could have a clue on it," I explained, and she nodded slowly. "However, I'm not sure if I can do that advanced a level of platforming, so you'll have to do it," I said sheepishly.

"Why me? I don't want to fall into a wood cutting machine," She pouted.

"I'll catch you if you fall," I said, and she huffed. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Kid," I said seriously, and she looked at me. "I'd rather go to hell and back than see you get hurt. There is absolutely no way I'm gonna let that happen, not even a god could do it." She sighed.

"Okay," She said, then put on her running cap and took off. I could barely keep up with her speed, with her darting all around the place. My heart skipped a beat when she jumped on some platforms above the machine that fell down, but she was so masterful at it and quick that she didn't even notice.

Eventually, I saw her reach the control switch, and I could hear it turn off. The dog was safely lowered to the ground, and I looked up to see the kid frowning down. She seemed reluctant to jump, for good reason.

"I'll catch you, kid," I said, and she jumped down, shouting and yelling the whole way. As I promised, I caught her, but I wasn't expecting her to come down so fast and I fell down to the ground.

At least she wasn't hurt. That's all that mattered. I chuckled and got up, and we turned to the fake dog.

"Thank you, kind humans, for saving me, woof woof," It said in the same voice as the phone guy did, which made the kid laugh out loud. "I found some evidence on the killer. Hope it helps. Woof," It said, then tipped over as it dropped a file.

I picked it up and looked inside. The file contained pictures, interviews, and newspapers related to the Express Owls. But why would they murder their own?

"I'm not so sure about that," I grumbled.

"Maybe," She said, "Maybe there's a reason why they're so quiet and timid."

"Kinda like you?" I asked, and she looked down and sighed. She almost seemed... ashamed. "Wait, kid, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I'm introverted and antisocial too. Don't ever be ashamed of it. In fact, don't ever be ashamed of yourself, no matter what. You're amazing, kid, so treat yourself that way," I reassured her, and she looked up and smiled.

"Well, let's get going," She said, and I nodded. We left the Engine Room and made our way over to the locked door, and she unlocked it with the key she found earlier. Judging by the sign, we were entering the Lounge.

It definitely looked like a lounge. There were many different chairs and seatings and floorings and whatever, different furnishings and whatnot. The kid took off to the right, so I climbed up to the upper level.

I _barely _missed the gaze of a crow, who cawed out in alarm, but returned to his watch. I sighed in relief. I looked behind me and saw that I was standing in front of a door, the door to the... the Sauna. This train just gets weirder and weirder. I saw the kid emerge from where she ran off to and waved at me with a file. She ran over and I pulled her up to where I was.

She opened the file, which revealed pictures and interviews about... the victim? What?

"I call bull. I know for a _fact_ that this is not a suicide," I hissed, and she nodded. She put the file away and we entered the Sauna. I was very surprised to see some unfazed Express Owls out and about in the room, either hiding from the crows with excellent poker faces or blissfully unaware of the brutal crime that was committed here.

"Ahh, this is the life. Nothing beats a good, hot, sauna," One of the owls said to their friend, who nodded. I looked around and saw the outline of what seemed to be a key on the other end of the room.

The owls seemed pretty secretive, so I decided to avoid their gaze as well. I snuck around the room until I was on the other side, then grabbed the key and made my way back.

"Hey!" One of the owls shouted. "What're you doing here? This is a private room!"

"It's a really long story, but I'm basically a detective now. I need this key. So please, leave me alone," I grumbled, and the owl turned away.

"Either way, get out of here," They hissed, and we left.

"Geez," The kid said, "How rude."

"I'm starting to wonder if the Owls are maybe to blame," I grumbled, "Whatever. Where to, now, kid?"

She put on her hat and closed her eyes again. She took off to the other side of the room and I followed her. There was a door, and we went through it. We were up on a platform, with a button next to us. The kid jumped on it.

I saw a lift activate beside the one locked door, and I grinned. We jumped down, and made our way to the lift, then stepped on it, and I unlocked the door. We entered. It was a small room with monitors and machines beeping and booping, with a file on a stand in the center.

On the large monitor in front of us, it showed x-rays of both me and the kid (How the hell did they do that without us knowing, anyway?!), and speculation on what could be in her hat. I grabbed the file and looked inside.

My blood ran cold at the sight. No, it couldn't be! Pictures, interviews, and newspapers of... us. The kid, and I. But... no. That's impossible! The kid seemed just as perturbed as I about this newfound information.

Then, we heard a grandfather clock chime 12. The crows would be returning to the caboose now, so we sprinted back before they could make it there.

"So, uh, who dun it?" Conductor asked. The lead crow looked down, seemingly ashamed.

"We... don't know," He said, "We couldn't find any conclusive evidence; we have no idea who murdered this owl."

"What?! So you've done peck all to solve the case?!" Conductor spat, and the crow nodded sadly.

"That's probably because you weren't actually doing your job. We thought y'all were gonna slack off, so we found our own evidence," I hissed, and everyone turned to us. I looked at the kid. "I know you're way smarter than me, kid. You choose. Which one of these shmucks is the murderer?"

She brought out the different evidence and examined them again, occasionally peeking out at different people. Eventually, she put away the evidence and pointed at someone.

...

Wait, what?!

She was pointing at me?!

I stepped back in shock.

"You did it!" She shouted.

"Huh?!" I exclaimed, and looked around. Everyone was staring daggers at me.

...

Shit.

Well, I shouldn't betray the kid's trust.

"Wow, kid. Just wow," I said, "Truly amazing. How in the world did you find me out?! I took every possible precaution to conceal my traces." She grinned smugly.

"But... why? Why murder one of the Express Owls?" Conductor asked.

"Well, y'see... He was being a real piece of crap. He was talking trash about both me and the kid, and was being a general jerk. Furthermore, It was **extremely **boring on this train, and you said you didn't have a script yet, so I stuck him with a rubber knife, poured red-colourerd water everywhere, and told him to play dead, just to kick it up around here."

"Wuzzah what? Rubber knife?!" Conductor muttered, and the 'victim' got up.

"Yeah, can I go now? I'm kinda sore from playing dead for so long," He said, and everyone turned to him. "This knife is also quite uncomfortable," He complained.

"Well, thanks for going along with it," I said, and he nodded.

"Well, thanks for solvin' the murder, lassie," Conductor said, "Not only did you reveal the _murderer,_ you also revealed that the victim was never harmed! Also, you both gave us _intense _footage for the movie!"

Her jaw dropped, and I grinned. "Wait, what?" She exclaimed.

"What? You think I'd let a murder happen on MY Owl Express? Ha! Think again! It was all a setup for my newest movie: Murder On The Owl Express!" He explained happily, and I high-fived him.

"This movie is gonna be _sick,_" I said contently, and he nodded.

"And I have noone to thank but the two o' ye. Lad, the idea of doin' a murder mystery! Brilliant! I can't thank ye enough!" He exclaimed, "And ye portrayed yer role perfectly!"

"It was the least I could do, I know you were struggling," I muttered, "Quite a plot twist, eh? The sidekick actually being the bad guy?"

"Ohohoho, indeed!" He said, "And, lass, ye also portrayed yer role peckin' beatifully! That was amazin'! You think DJ Peck Neck will make a movie that's even remotely as good? Ha! I think not!" The kid seemed pretty angry, though.

"Kid?" I asked, "What's wrong?" She looked at me extremely angrily.

"_I. Trusted. You,_" She hissed, and I frowned.

"I-I... Kid, I'm sorry," I said, "We thought the movie would turn out better if you weren't notified, as you're new to acting.'

"And you aren't?!" She yelled.

"Well yes, but actually no," I said, "I rehearsed in my spare time."

"Oh," She said.

"I'm sorry, kiddo, I truly am. If I knew it would've upset you so much I would've objected to it," I apologized, and she smiled and shrugged her shoulders. I sighed with relief. At least she was letting the past be the past. She's pretty mature for her age.

"Anyway, here, take this thingamajig and get outta here," Conductor muttered, then tossed the kid a Time Piece. She did her typical pose, then we walked outside and returned.

Ah, _what a day!_


	10. Chapter 9: Superstar

Chapter 9: Superstar

We messed around on the ship for awhile before we went to the Moon. After such an eventful recording, we thought it'd be best to rest for a bit. The Mafia Boss was still on the ship, and explained that he wanted to stay there.

I wouldn't've allowed it, but the kid did. Eventually, we each looked through the telecope to the Moon and landed on a small podium. DJ Grooves was waiting for us.

"Welcome to the first day of shooting, darling!" He greeted the kid, "We need to transform you into the biggest star the bird world has ever seen! You need to become... a diva!" She gave him a very excited look, and I smiled. "That's why I called for a press conference here on our moon set. You need to get out there in front of the cameras and electrify the public, darling!" He explained, "Get 'em really up and going for your movies!"

"What about me?" I asked.

"Don't worry, you'll be in this too," The penguin answered, "Once you've got them going crazy, come back here and we'll show off our new prop!" She gave him a questioning look. "That's right, we'll unveil our new movie prop to the masses!" He explained.

He then pointed ahead, and the kid jumped down in front of some waiting Moon Penguins, who stared at her. I could see her immediately resume her normal, timid self. "Oh, hi there!" She peeped nervously, and I jumped down and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You've got this, kiddo," I reassured her, "You think a prestigious director would hire a kid, let alone he's just met that isn't his own kind just out of the blue like that unless he was dazzled? I think not."

She smiled and nodded, then walked forward. I saw a token that looked like the penguin's face sitting next to a fountain, and grabbed it. It span around rapidly and disappeared.

"You called, darling? Looks like it's endorsement time!" A familiar groovy bird exclaimed.

Oh. That makes sense. A camera crew focused on us and DJ Grooves jumped down next to us.

"All you penguins out there know my name: DJ Grooves, and I'm here to tell you that this young girl and tall guy are the next hot thing, guaranteed!" He said grandiosely, and the cameras pointed upward.

I looked at what they were recording, and saw a suspiciously familiar dog cutout on top of the fountain. "Just look as they'll help eachother climb the statue to rescue the poor puppy that has gotten stuck!" He exclaimed, then nudged me in the stomach. "Right, darling?" He asked, and I nodded.

I knelt down and whispered my plan to her, and she nodded at me with a confused expression. I picked her up.

"Ready, kid?" I asked.

"Yep," She said.

"Okay. 3, 2, 1, go!" I whispered, then tossed her upward toward the dog. She landed on the statue next to it, but stumbled and smacked right into it, causing it to fall to the ground and break into multiple splinters.

"Look at that! She helped the puppy down, safe and sound!" DJ Grooves lied, "Too bad it ran off and definitely didn't break into multiple pieces. These are truly superstars I can get behind! Let it be known that this duo is all about animals! Make sure to join their fanclub! DJ Grooves, **OUT!**"

The cameras turned off and the kid jumped down, landing elegantly on her feet. We walked away until we were under a balcony. A flash stunned us, and I shielded my eyes with my arm.

"Thank you!" A moon penguin exclaimed, and I looked to see them holding a camera.

"Give me a copy of that picture," I demanded, and they did so. Not exactly a stellar photo. Almost my entire face was covered by my arm, and what little of it you could see was turned into a scowl. The kid's face was stuck in a flinch.

I showed her the picture and she giggled, then I put it away and we ran off. I saw another endorsement token near an alleyway, and she grabbed it.

"You called, darling? Looks like it's endorsement time!" The DJ called, then landed next to us. "All you penguins out there know my name: DJ Grooves, and I'm telling you, this young girl and tall guy are the next hot thing, guaranteed!"

I waved to the camera relaxedly and the kid smiled.

"Look at how street-smart this superstar is. He's standing in a sinister alleyway, right next to some potential wrongdoers!" He exclaimed, and we turned to see two Moon Penguins stop arguing and look at us with confusion. I smirked at them and they gave me a look of suspicion. "Danger is his middle name, and they're both not afraid to step out of their comfort zones! Make sure you join their fanclub! DJ Grooves, **OUT!**"

I chuckled. These endorsements were pretty strange. After that, we walked around, talked to some Moon Penguins, collected pons and some yarn, and snapped some photos. These photos turned out much better.

Me diving with the kid on my back in a superman pose. The kid posing and smiling on my head. The kid blowing a raspberry while I look on in amusement. The kid bothering a Moon Penguin while I observe. These photos were perfect, picture-perfect.

We also explored the rooftops, where we saw a token in what seemed to be a nest/poker table. I grabbed it.

"You called, darling? Looks like it's endorsement time!" DJ Grooves beckoned. That was beginning to get slightly annoying.

"All you penguins out there know my name: DJ Grooves, and I'm here to tell you that this young girl and tall guy are the next hot thing, guaranteed!" He started, "Watch as they beat these hard-boiled card players at their own game, on their first try!"

"What do you think it is, kiddo?" I asked, and she whispered into my ear.

"Black 3 of spades," She said, and I raised an eyebrow. That seemed pretty specific. I smirked smugly at the camera.

"Three of spades, black," I exclaimed, and the card was put down. It was that exact card.

"Wow! Fantastic! Incredible! The answer was indeed 3 of spades! Folks at home, you have just witnessed the stunning intuition of a true superstar," He shouted, "Make sure you join their fanclub! DJ Grooves, **OUT!**"

"Such strange endorsements," I muttered, and she nodded.

"Well, birds probably have different interests than our own," She considered, and I nodded slowly. Probably. We continued on, until we found a token next to a fish stand. She grabbed it.

"You called, darling? Looks like it's endorsement time!" DJ Grooves exclaimed.

"Wonder what this'll be," I muttered under my breath. He turned to the kid in a secretive way.

"Now, darling, I have to mention this," He said sternly, "Cooking show hosts have a terrible track record of getting angry and swearing on screen. So, try not to say... the P-word. Don't say... P-E-C-K."

"But we've heard the Conductor say that a million times," I grumbled, "What's so bad about p-" A flipper covered my mouth. DJ Grooves seemed heavily displeased.

"The Conductor is... old fashioned. He throws that word around a lot. It'll get him in trouble someday, but for now, let's keep our show clean," He advised, then cleared his throat and turned to the cameras. We did the same.

"Hello, viewers! Even the biggest celebrities need to eat, and I've got with me the biggest celebrities of them all!" He greeted, then turned to the kid. "Now tell us, darling, what kind of condiment do you like on your tuna sandwiches?" He asked.

The kid adopted a look of deep thought, but I could sense the mischief immediately. I knelt down to her level and gave her a deep look of disapproval.

"Kid. Don't. You. Dare," I hissed, and she just ignored me. I got up, looked away, and shook my head.

"**PECK!**" She shouted, and someone took a photo. The DJ seemed horrified.

"_**DARLING!**_" He yelled, and she began giggling. I could barely keep the dumb smile off my face. "I-I mean, fellow viewers! Look at the mouth on this young girl!" He babbled, and I cracked. Seeing him so flustered and uncomfortable, that made me lose it.

I began rolling on the floor laughing like a child. I eventually got up and slowly stopped laughing, but I didn't stop snickering.

"She's really something, they both are," The penguin muttered, then turned to the kid and gave her a nasty look. "Now, shoo! Get out of this endorsement as soon as you can, before the older penguins watching TV notice what just happened!"

We took off, me laughing again. What a disaster, a happy disaster. Eventually, we heard a P.A. system turn on.

"The audience is going crazy, darlings! Come over here and show off our new stunner: our new prop!" DJ Grooves announced through the system. Hearing this, the kid grinned and we took off for the stage where we originally landed. She jumped elegantly up onto the platform and somersaulted into the Time Piece, grabbing it with ease.

She did a pose and many penguins clapped. I walked up to them.

"Anything else you want us to do here? Or are we done?" I asked.

"You can leave, darling," He answered, and thus we left.

When we were back on the ship, I looked down at the kid and smirked.

"I guess we're the superstars now, eh, kid?" I muttered, and she grinned from ear to ear.

"I just hope he doesn't make us sing," She grumbled.

"Nah, he won't. This is a movie, not a musical. At least, I hope so. My singing is bad enough to break glass and my dancing bad enough to make your eyes bleed," I confessed, and she giggled.

"What a surprise," She said sarcastically and quietly.

"I heard that!" I grumbled, "Well, if you're one to judge, why don't you sing right now? Honestly, I'm curious."

She scratched the back of her head nervously. "I-um..." She said timidly.

"You're self conscious about your voice, aren't you?" I asked, and she nodded sadly. "Is that why you don't speak to people you don't know?" She nodded again. I knelt down to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Kid, I've only heard you _speak _and I know your voice is amazing. If you're truly that anxious about it, you don't need to, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or nervous. But give it a shot sometime," I suggested, and she sighed.

"I guess," She said tiredly, "I'll sing for you if you sing for me."

...

"You don't wanna hear my singing voice, kiddo. It'd be an unfair deal," I explained.

"Then it's settled," She grumbled and walked away. She seemed upset. I ran after her.

"Hey, kid, if I upset you, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Honestly. I had good intentions. If I realized you were that sensitive about your voice, I wouldn't have mentioned it," I apologized, "So, I'm sorry, kiddo."

She sighed and looked up at me, then smiled. "It's okay," She said, "You didn't know." I smiled back. She's so kind, forgiving, and merciful. Her maturity level was higher than some adults I think I knew.

Something popped into my head.

"Oh, right!" I exclaimed, "In a week's time, we're gonna go down to the nearby movie theater to view the movie premieres."

"Okay," She responded, "When do we record next?"

"The day after the movie premieres," I answered, and she nodded slowly. It was still mid-day, so we decided to rest, and did so. I was playing games when an alarm boomed throughout the ship.

I heard the automated voice declare: "Emergency! Time Rifts detected on the surface."

I have no idea what the hell a 'Time Rift' is, but I can tell by the alarm that it is not good news.


	11. Chapter 10: Heart-to-heart

Chapter 10: Heart-to-heart

The kid ran out of her bedroom and bolted to the oversized monitor, then tapped it. It revealed 3 pictures of swirling orbs, two blue, one pink/purple. After that, she bolted for the doors to the Mafia Town telescope.

"Kid!" I called, then followed her into the room.

"Come with me. Now," She hissed, then peered into the telescope and disappeared. I followed her down. As soon as we landed, she took off immediately for the beach. I was hardly able to keep up with her, because she was using her sprint hat.

On the beach, I saw a swirling purple orb in the air. She stopped beside it and I stopped next to her, panting.

"Kid?" I grumbled, "Care to explain what this is?"

"I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain," She said, "Stay here. This is a job for me and me alone."

"What is 'this' anyway?" I asked.

"Basically a series of platforming I need to do to get a Time Piece. You suck at platforming, so I'm doing this alone," She hissed, "Make sure no one else comes in."

"Wait-!" I shouted, but she jumped in. Time seemed to rewind slightly, and when it resumed, she was gone. Oh, shit.

Do I go in after her? Well, if it's platforming, I'll never catch her, and if I do, she'll be furious. If I stay here, I can do what she wanted.

I made up my mind.

I'll stay for awhile, if she doesn't return soon, I'll go in. So, I made myself comfortable under the rift, quickly told some mafia to stay away from it if they valued their lives, and twiddled my thumbs in anxiety.

What if she gets hurt? Slips and falls? No, she wouldn't, that's something I'd do. But, still. I waited for around half an hour, when my anxiety reached it's peak.

No matter what this thing was, surely it wouldn't take that long to beat. Okay, that's it. I prepared to jump in, when the kid reappeared from nowhere with a Time Piece.

"What took you so long?" I asked, extremely annoyed and angry, "Do you have _any idea _how worried I was?"

"Time works differently in these things," She said, "It can either be much quicker in a rift, or much slower in a rift. This time, it was much quicker."

"And what about the two others?" I asked, still irritated. "Am I going to have to sit here and worry about you for another half an hour while you do that?"

"No... it shouldn't. The blue ones are different," She said, "I'd let you come with me, but I don't really have the time or the patience right now to have you drag me behind."

Well, that was rather rude. I frowned.

"Fine. Go and do them yourselves, whatever, not like anybody cares about me anyway, it was stupid for me to ever think so," I grumbled, "I'll be waiting here."

I could hear her breathe in, like she was going to say something, but she remained quiet and left.

I sighed and looked down. She literally just admitted that she saw me simply as a liability. Wow. Maybe she isn't as pure, innocent, and caring as I first thought.

The thought depressed me. I heard footsteps and saw a Mafia Goon walk over.

"What is troubling you, mister?" He asked. Huh. An actually kind Mafia Goon.

"You know how I live with the hat kid?" I responded, and he nodded. "Well, she basically just told me that she wanted me to stay put because she didn't have the patience to deal with me and saw that me tagging along with her would only bog her down."

"Does kid matter to you?" He asked.

"More than anything. She's the nicest person I've met, or so I thought," I grumbled.

"Mafia watch her for some time now. Hat Kid is lost, scared, and afraid. She is simply afraid of losing you. She never, ever talk to Mafia, but she talk to you all the time. Because of that, you must mean just as much to her, Mafia know it. If she ever speak harshly to you, she must do so out of fear. She seems to have seen bad things, far worse than Mafia has. Do not let it get to you," He explained.

...

That was... wow.

That really helped. I began nodding.

"Thanks, man. You're probably the nicest and most wise Mafia Goon I've met," I said, and he nodded.

"Don't mention it," He said, and then left.

About an hour later, the sun began to set. I was relaxing on the beach when I heard more footsteps, but they sounded lighter and softer. I turned to see the kid back with two more Time Pieces in show.

You'd think she'd be grinning like mad, but no.

She had one of the most somber, sad, and lost looks I've ever seen on her face, one that I only saw before when Moustache Girl freaked out and left her.

"Kid?" I called, and she just sighed. What could be bothering her so much? She held a Time Piece to the sky and grabbed my wrist. Not my hand like she began doing awhile ago, my wrist.

We were back on the ship. I turned to her and frowned in concern.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and she just looked away and shook her head. Now she wasn't talking, either. "Is it something I said?" I asked again, and she turned to me and shook her head no again.

"Well... I... yes, but no, b-but," She stammered, then sighed. I ran over to her and knelt down to her. "I thought over what I said, and what you said, and..."

She was beating herself up over what she said because of how I reacted to it. Combined with how she acted earlier...

She was worried I wouldn't want to be her friend anymore.

"You're scared I'm going to leave you, aren't you?" I asked her somberly. She looked up and nodded. I could see tears streaming down her face. Seeing that finally broke my heart. I leaned over and gave her a hug.

She hugged me back, and I could hear sniffling.

"Kid, it doesn't matter what you say, what you do, I don't care," I said, "I'm never going to abandon you, ever, God damn me if I do."

I could hear her begin silently crying. I pulled away and put my hand on her shoulder, then smiled warmly at her.

"You got that, kiddo? You're never getting rid of me, even if you want to," I said, and she nodded, then hugged me again. I returned the hug, and seconds later, she began sobbing.

I comforted her. The Mafia Goon was right. She was just scared of losing me. After a few minutes, she stopped crying, and she let go. I could see that she was now tired.

"C'mon, kid, lemme tuck you in," I beckoned, and she nodded slowly. I picked her up and brought her into her bedroom, and tucked her into her bed. I smiled at her. "Good night, little one. Sweet dreams," I said, then exited the room.

I sat down on my hammock. I really needed to think about things now. So... the kid really did care about me, so much so she beat herself up for risking losing her friendship with me. But, was that my fault? I probably shouldn't have spoken so coldly to her.

Dammit.

I know I lash out when I get angry. So, if I stay, and get angry at something... I may end up hurting her. So, if I leave...

No.

Seeing how sad and hopeless she was just because I _might_ leave was bad enough. If I truly left...

She'd probably end up with depression, trust and relationship issues, anxiety, and maybe even become suicidal.

No.

I can't let that happen. I promised myself I'd protect her until the very end. If that means I must protect her from myself, so be it. Judging from what I knew, she'd already lost her parents. If she lost me too, she might just lose herself.

Yeah, there's absolutely no way I'm going to let that happen. I won't let _**anything **_happen to her, lest me be damned to eternal suffering.


	12. Chapter 11: Movies and rivalries

Chapter 11: Movies and rivalries

**A/N: Yes, no upload yesterday, whoop de doo. I went out and watched a movie.**

The rest of the week passed quickly. We both basically did our own thing, she screwed around in Mafia Town quite a bit while I mostly stayed on the ship.

Anyway, we went down to the studio and were led to a theater. I'm extremely curious how these movies were going to be, and I'd bet the kid is too. We were quickly seated next to the Conductor, as his movie was going to be playing first.

After a couple of minutes, the lights dimmed and the screen lit up.

_Murder On The Owl Express_

As I expected, the movie was stellar. The crowds were so surprised when the murderer was revealed that I couldn't help but begin grinning evilly. At the end, the credits began to play (obviously).

Conductor as Conductor

Some girl as Detective Useless.

Tall guy as Mr. Mastermind

Crows as C.A.W. Agents

Owls as Owls

...

I like my name in the movie. You can guess whose name I didn't.

I leaned over to the Conductor and gave him a nasty glare. "Care to explain why you thought you'd make the kid's stage name derogatory? You know what happened to the owl in the movie that did something similar?" I said calmly. He seemed confused.

"Eh? I did peck all!" He replied, "The lass' name in the movie was supposed to be Detective Underdog! Not this pecking nonsense!"

"Well I suggest you fix it, or I'll _'fix it' _myself," I warned, and he nodded. I then turned to the kid, who was pouting. "This was a simple mistake, kiddo. He's gonna fix it," I told her, and she nodded.

"Hmph. Good," She scoffed. I looked at the screen. The results for the movie were in at 700 points. That seemed to be an extremely high score for a movie, as the maximum seemed to be around the 850 mark.

We went back into the theater lobby and waited, then went back into the theater to see the DJ's movie.

Everyone was seated once again, and the DJ sat down next to us, but a bit further away. Something seemed... off... about his, well, demeanor to me. Conductor was more brash and, frankly, rude, but he seemed genuine, and he seemed to be an actually decent person (except when angry).

DJ Grooves seemed... fake. He was kind and welcoming, but he did it in a way that to me seemed simply professional, cold, and calculated. Almost like he was doing it simply as a way to make us feel more comfortable.

There was only one or two moments where I felt like his reactions and words were genuine, and thus I didn't trust him. I didn't trust him at all. However, I already told him that he'd regret hurting her, and he complied, so I was fine.

He's a movie director. He's gotta act professionally and nicely somewhat to succeed. Anyway, the lights dimmed once more and the screen lit up.

_Picture Perfect_

Wait, that's my joke! I turned to him and he smiled relaxedly. At least he has a sense of humour.

The movie was... alright. It was good, wholesome, and funny, and I loved watching it, but it seemed to be missing something. Action, maybe. There was no story, climax, turning point, nothing. Just a kid and a young adult becoming superstars. Anyway, the movie ended and the credits began rolling.

DJ Grooves as The Stylish Mentor

Some girl as The Mysterious Diva

Tall guy as The Gallant Superstar.

Now that's more like it. I wouldn't consider myself gallant, though, even though I knew the way he meant it. I'm not brave or heroic, and I'm most definitely not chivalrous. Either way, I was satisfied with the credits, at least.

The results came in at 660 points. Well, that was rather surprising. Maybe the critics liked the interaction/friendliness between me and the kid? I mean, technically, in Murder On The Owl Express, she was the protagonist while I was the antagonist.

I was trying to deceive and beguile her, foil her plan, have someone else accused of the 'murder'. Maybe they preferred how we were both the protagonists in this movie.

We'll have to wait for the two other movies to find out.

We left the theater and returned to the ship.

"So, how'd ya think we did in our first movies, kiddo?" I asked, and she grinned.

"That was amazing!" She squealed.

"Definitely," I said.

"I'm just kind of annoyed because of that title," She grumbled.

"It was a mistake. Or, some idiot in Conductor's team is either dyslexic or a complete twit. Either way, they need to be fired," I muttered, "But, it's going to be fixed, and that's what counts."

She nodded.

"We begin recording again tomorrow, right?" She asked.

"Yep," I answered, "What do you want to do while we wait?"

She held up a gaming controller. "Wanna race me?" She asked.

This seemed extremely familiar.

Once again, I was back to where I was before.

_"What the hell?! How did you get so far ahead?!"_

_"I get the start-of-race boost, drift wherever I can, and do tricks wherever I can. Clearly that's far too advanced for you."_

_"Remind me to never play Mario Kart with you again."_

I snapped out of my flashback.

"Wha?" I mumbled. She gave me a confused glare then showed me the game. It seemed extremely similar to the game I was playing in my flashback, whatever 'Mario Kart' was.

"So, wanna race?" She asked, "I'll go easy on you, you've never played before."

"Kid," I said, "I don't understand how, but some of the things you're doing is making me remember some things. Like, some actions you do gives me Deja Vu, then I get a flashback."

"Oh?" She said, "Is that what just happened?"

"Yeah," I replied, "Back where I come from, I played a game just like this, and I was the best in my family at it, by a _long _shot. Are you _really_ sure you wanna race me at an exact copy of the game I'm a god at?"

"Pfft," She said, "You clearly haven't seen _me _yet."

"Very well, if you're gonna be so cocky, looks like I gotta give you a little reality check," I muttered, then sat down.

The controller felt familiar, and I adapted to it quickly. She went into the game, and we selected our racers and courses.

"Prepare yourself," I said, and she snorted. The race begun, but I didn't know how to get the boost, so she took off.

However, the drifting and tricking, like in that game I played back home, was exactly the same, and combining that with there being items, I caught up quickly.

The rest of the race was... interesting... to say the least. She was in the lead and about to cross the finish line, but I chucked an item at her and she spun out, and I crossed the line a fraction of a second before she did.

I definitely wasn't expecting such a close race.

"Well," I said, "That was unexpected."

"Definitely," She said with sass.

"I meant how close that race was, not me winning," I grumbled, and she giggled. "You know, you had an advantage because you've played this multiple times before, but this game itself is new to me, yet I still won. How badly do you think I'll beat you once I familiarize myself to this?" I taunted.

"I want a rematch!" She pouted.

"Oh? You're challenging me again?" I asked smugly, "Instead of accepting defeat, you're gonna drag this out?"

"I can't beat the peck out of you without racing you again," She grumbled condescendingly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and I chuckled.

"Fine, then. Come at me," I said, and she grinned.

"That was the easiest map in the game. Let's see how you fare on the hardest!" She said evilly, "Not even I can beat this one without falling off constantly."

"Ohoho, now we're talking!" I exclaimed.

"Let's go," She said.

I have a feeling this is going to be the beginning of an eternal virtual rivalry, a clash of the gaming titans that would last forever, as both of us are far too stubborn to admit defeat.

Heh.

We'll just have to keep playing.


	13. Chapter 12: Chaos

Chapter 12: Chaos

**A/N: !**

**This (^) is the curseword alarm. '!' means f-bombs are present, '#' means curses but not as extreme, '-' means chapter is completely clean. As you can see, it is at an exclamation mark now. You know what that means, now. If you really dislike swears as extreme as the f-word (and I don't mean 'FOOL!'), I'd suggest **_**maybe **_**skipping the middle part of the chapter.**

As expected, we could not reach a victory and gave up after a total of 4 races. The kid went down to Mafia Town to find things, and I stayed on the ship and decided to explore more. I went into the Machine Room and saw a blocked off door to the left.

How did I not notice that before? I moved the boxes and barrels out of the way, but when I walked through the door, there was a stupidly large box blocking the way. The box, as well as the barrels and crates I moved out of the way, were covered in golden tape, and I remembered that the kid used her potion hat to decimate some a while ago.

But where would I get something similar? I explored the ship more and found two purple potions. Shaking them confirmed that they were the same potions she made with her hat. I brought them over to the box and chucked one at it, and it was destroyed by an explosion.

THere was yet another box in the way. I blew that one up too. Finally, the hallway to this room was clear, and I walked through into the room. It was an art gallery, filled with some oddly familiar looking paintings, but the painted objects or people were from here, not where I came from.

However, I saw a painting off to the side that caught my interest. It seemed to be placed in a fancier frame than the rest, and I walked over to it and looked at it.

It was a painting of... me. It showed me, with my hood up, leaning against the large Main Hub window in such a way that the shadow from the hood obscured my eyes. There was a small smirk on my face in the painting, and my hands were in my pockets.

I knew the kid really cared for me, but enough so as to paint me, and put that painting in a luxury frame such as this? It was an extremely flattering thought. But then, I saw another thing off to the side. It looked like a painting, but it was out of frame and looked... discarded. I picked it up and looked at it.

...

It was the same painting, but the kid was there, giving me a hug, and I had my hand on her hat. Also, I was smiling warmly in this painting instead of giving a smart-aleck smirk. It warmed my heart.

But... why did she discard it? They seemed to be painted at basically the same time.

So, why did she choose the one of me alone instead of the nicer one?

Did she still not trust me that much? Nah, she wouldn't speak to me.

Did she still doubt my loyalty? Did she think I'd betray her?

No. That couldn't be it.

She must doubt something.

What could it be?

...

She doubts herself, doesn't she?

Yes, that must be it. Why else would she keep this from me?

She must think lowly of herself. Enough so that she thinks I'll lose respect for her and leave to not be made a laughingstock.

"Kid, oh kid, when will you ever learn?" I muttered, "Words cannot describe my respect and care for you. You must learn to respect yourself, too."

I sighed. She isn't here right now, talking to myself will solve nothing.

I'll have to talk to her when she gets back.

I returned to the main hub and sat down on my hammock.

When she came back, she looked very sleepy, and I thought it'd be best to save my speech for tomorrow.

I tucked her in, then went to bed. I'll need to be fully awake for recording.

I slept peacefully through the night (I think), until I was woken up by something. It sounded like a noise.

_Woosh!_

I got up. It wasn't an alarm. Suddenly, I felt like I was being watched by something... or someone. It felt extremely familiar, and extremely real. I looked around, but saw no one. It seemed like someone was looking over my shoulder, and I could've sworn I even felt and heard breathing in my ear.

I looked around more, but saw nothing. I scratched my head in confusion, then I thought I faintly heard adult male laughter.

"Enough games! Who are you?!" I hissed, then heard the wooshing noise behind me.

"You may need these today," A voice whispered in my ear, and I turned around, but no one was there. The feeling of being watched disappeared. I looked at where I heard the wooshing, and two objects were there.

One looked like the kid's umbrella with a hook sticking out of the end and the end detached, but attached by a chain, and another showed the same thing, but with my baton.

"The hell-?" I whispered to myself. Then, I heard a door being forced open and turned to see a very confused kid looking around.

"What was all that about?" She asked.

"Did you feel like you were being watched, feel or hear breathing in your ear, hear laughter, or hear whispering in your ear?" I asked.

"No... I did get a strange feeling though, but I can't explain it," She said, then looked down at what I was holding. "What are those?" She asked.

"I dunno, they were here after these strange events happened," I muttered. She took one from my hand.

"Oh!" She said, "These things are badges!"

"Badges?" I asked.

"Things you get that you can clip on to your hats or other clothing items to give yourself upgrades or whatever," She explained.

Uh, ok then.

"Ok?..." I grumbled. I then checked the time. "We should probably get ready to go down to the Owl Express now, kiddo." She nodded and we proceeded to get ready.

_"You may need these today."_

The hell did that mean? Well, I decided to keep mine on me, and I snapped it on my sweater pocket, and the kid put hers on her hat. However, she had to get these badge pins for her hat because it didn't have anything like a pocket to slip them in.

We teleported down to the Owl Express, landing at the caboose once again. Conductor was waiting for us again, and the look on his 'face' sent one thought through my mind:

Ah peck, here we go again.

"Go on in! We're getting ready to shoot the _BIGGEST _action movie in BIRD HISTORY!" He exclaimed, "The movie is gonna be... _**THE BOMB!**_" He then cackled maniacally. That didn't sound good. That didn't sound good at all.

"I'm watching you," I warned, and he just made a motion that I assumed was supposed to be rolling of the eyes.

"And I mean bomb in a good way, peck neck," He grumbled. I shook my head and entered the train car, and the kid followed me soon after.

"What kind of movie are we recording today, anyway? There's no stops on the schedule," I heard an owl ask. No planned stops? But how would we get off the train?

"Did we load more explosives on the train than usual today?" Another owl asked.

...

All of this combined with what the Conductor said...

No, no, no. He wouldn't blow up his own train, would he? It's his train! He wouldn't be stupid enough to risk it, would he? No way.

I looked around and saw that the door ahead was blocked by a gate and that there was a floating hook with a red X displayed on it floating in the air. There was also a monitor turned on to static behind the floating hook.

Oh, that must be what the badges are for.

To test this, I pointed the end of my baton toward the hook and jutted it forward. Nothing happened. I shook it. Nothing. I smacked it. Nothing. I closely examined it. Nothing.

I was getting frustrated, and I could feel my grip on the baton tighten. Just as that happened, I could hear the end of the baton shoot out and clamp onto the hook, and then me being pulled toward it. I hung onto the baton, but then something happened.

The hook shifted and lowered, and the red X turned into a green checkmark. I could hear something shift in the train, and the kid gave me a look of 'What did you do?'

I shrugged my shoulders.

Then, the monitor turned to the Conductor. Somehow, he was at the locomotive.

"Alright laddy, listen up. I've got some bad news," He explained dead seriously, "That lever you just pulled... uh... it starts the train's self destruct sequence, and that ain't no joke: it'll blow up!"

I could hear the kid gasp and shriek in terror. I gave the Conductor the most angry look I could ever possibly muster.

"Why the f- peck did you add that?!" I shouted.

"I need a movie with some _real _intense action, so that's what we're gonna do. The train's gonna blow in a few minutes. But, you and the lass can save us all, laddy. Get to the switch at the front of the train to turn it off!" He ordered.

"Oh my god..." I grumbled, facepalming. I could faintly see him stomping in anxiety.

"And ye'd better make it in time, _ALRIGHT?! _I don't care about the owls or yerselves, but _**DON'T YOU DARE **_blow up me train for real! It's me baby!" He hissed. I saw the kid step back, hurt by what he said.

I'm gonna strangle that bird-raptor.

"The cameras are gonna be rollin', ye hurry now! Go! Over and out!" He shouted, then the monitor turned off. The bars blocking the door lowered, music began playing, and I could hear a timer begin to tick down.

"Two minutes zero seconds until self-destruct. Oh no,"

_**Ohhh SHIIIIIIIT!**_

"You can worry about what he said later!" I yelled to the kid, "We need to move! _**NOW!**_" She nodded and we bolted through the door.

This was different. It was a large hallway with small gaps filled with acid, and cannons were shooting explosive eggs across the gaps from one wall to the other. I took off and made it to the other side with ease, and so did the kid. She grabbed a green clock along the way, which seemed to extend the fuse.

If she fell behind, I'd wait for her.

The kid mattered to me more than the train.

I'd kill people to keep her safe.

We ran through the door into the next room.

Practically the whole floor was covered in acid, but with some platforms around. We hopped from platform to platform until the kid jumped over me and ran ahead.

I saw some egg cannons activate, and one of them was stupidly large and shot a stupidly large egg. She didn't see it.

Before I could even think about it, I tackled her, and we landed on another platform instead of the acid.

"Watch yourself!" I hissed, and she nodded. We got up and she ran ahead, seeing that the cannon had gone down.

An egg hit her in the arm, and she fell down screaming and crying out.

"Kid!" I screamed, and she got up and gave me a thumbs up with her other arm. I didn't have time to stop and check her over, so we continued until we made it to the other side of the room, thank god.

There were two strange platforms on the ground and I stepped on one. It glowed, and the kid stepped on the other, and it glowed as well.

"1 minute 30 seconds until self-destruct. Better hurry."

"Oh, shut it!" I hissed.

The bars covering the next door were lowered and we continued into the next room. Seeing nothing, I ran ahead and was nearly sliced in half by some sawblades.

"What the hell is this?!" I shouted.

The sawblades carved the train car into multiple sections, and we had to hop across gaps and even jump across handcars to make it to the other side, where we had to use our new badges to jump across a traincar that was completely destroyed by sawblades.

I landed on a springboard, which bounced me up on top of the train.

Holy hell! How many train cars does this goddamn train have?! We jumped onto a large rock embedded in the train car and swung off of some hooks over to some platforms suspended on traincars. We jumped from platform to platform (she did it a lot better and quicker than I did), and even swung through a ring of fire to grab a timer and make it on top of another train car.

We stopped for a couple of seconds, and an Owl pointed ahead.

"Run!" He demanded, and we took off. The rest of the train was too far ahead to jump, and the hooks wouldn't bring us far enough ahead. The same kind of panels were ahead, suspended in the air, and we both jumped on one in unison, causing it to glow, but then it began rumbling and began to descend.

We were barely able to jump off in time, and we both took off, activating each panel. I was stupid and did it in a way that made it more difficult for me, and I nearly fell off multiple times.

If I did, I'd be paste on the train tracks.

"1 minute 0 seconds until self destruct."

But, when all panels were activated, they turned green and all raised back up, and the train ahead got close to us, close enough to swing off of the hooks into them. I swung off one, swung off the other, then the last one, and smashed through the back window, getting a few cuts in the process.

I heard the kid land next to me. I looked at the train car.

You've got to be _fucking_ kidding me.

Magma and fire everywhere. Well, too late to back down now. I jumped on the first platform and jumped between some jets of fire, nearly lighting my hair on fire. I landed on the next platform, and saw an impassable wall of fire ahead. I saw a hook above it, and clamped onto it.

My height finally caught up with me.

My leg completely went through the fire and I let go, causing me to drop onto the next platform.

Pain. Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain.

Words could not describe how much that hurt.

"_**Fuuuu-!**_" I screamed, and saw the platform begin to lower. I tried to get up, but my leg exploded with more pain.

So this is where it ends, eh?

Figures I don't get the gallant ending I'd have prefered.

I closed my eyes, but felt something pick me up, then let me down. When I opened my eyes, I was on the ground of the actual train car itself, and the kid was standing over me with a look of pure concern.

"Kid... D-did you just do that?" I asked, then got up. My leg was finally able to support me.

"Later," She said, then jumped ahead. She landed on a platform with a face that began glowing, then jumped on 4 more. She had to dodge explosive cakes to do so. When all 5 face-panels were activated, a beeping was heard and 4 more raised from the ground, two connected, two separated by a wall. The cannons also moved over to continue shooting cakes at her.

"30 seconds until self-destruct. We're doomed."

She activated all 4 panels, which lowered a wall ahead of her. Six normal panels were ahead, and a crap ton of cannons.

How the hell is she gonna dodge all that?!

I watched, then my jaw dropped. She seemed to do some sort of epic 'matrix' dodge and step on all of the panels.

"10... 9... 8...7...6..."

She was so fast I felt I'd need to see that in slow motion. Ahead, I saw her run through the door to the locomotive.

"5...4...3...2...1... Goodbye."

The lava drained from the room, and the ticking stopped.

A platform appeared, and I limped over to the door, and entered. The kid was standing on the button, and the Conductor was standing in front of her.

What purely enraged me was the pleased look on his face.

"Oh, ye made it! And in time!" He exclaimed, then walked over to a camera and examined the recording. "Ohohohoho, look at all this raw footage we've got! Look at how y-yer both runnin'... for dear life!" He muttered, then cackled.

My hands clenched immediately and I began shaking with rage.

"Give me _a single _good reason why I shouldn't strangle you to death right here and now," I hissed. He seemed unbothered.

"Oh, what? We did it in the name of cinematography, and to beat that no-good DJ Grooves! I bet he won't be able to make _HALF _the movie we just made!" He explained, and I punched him as hard as I could in the face.

"Oh, brother," The kid said, then I saw her plug her ears. Good. Now I can say whatever the hell I want.

"You think I give a damn about your goddamn movies?!" I yelled, "_**WATCH THE FOOTAGE! **_You injured me! I'd be able to forgive you for this if you apologized now and if it was just that, but _**NO! **__YOU PUT HER THROUGH THAT HELL! __**YOU hurt HER!**_"

"W-what?" He asked quietly.

"And guess what? I promised that I'd never let someone hurt her without me hurting them just as badly, if not worse," I hissed, "So, how much do you like fire? Because you're about to get pretty intimate with it."

"W-wait, yer hurt? And the lass, too?!" He exclaimed.

"No shit, Sherlock! Why do you think she ran in here without me?!" I yelled, then the kid walked forward and cradled her arm, rocking back and forth, and I sat down and began cursing at my leg.

I could hear sniffling. The kid was crying. I scooted over to her and put my arm around her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" I asked, and she gave me a concerned look through her tears. "You don't need to worry about me, I'm an adult, I can deal with this. You're my only concern right now," I said, and she looked down and began sobbing while cradling her arm more.

"It... it hurts... so much," She sobbed, "Please, make it stop!"

"Let me take a look," I suggested, and she brought her arm out of her sleeve, and I examined the burn.

Normally, I'd be vomiting just looking at something like this, but no. I must be strong, for me, but mainly for the kid. I have to be strong. I remembered something I learned in my cooking/hygiene class.

"It is a heavy second-degree burn, but not heavy enough to be classified as third degree," I muttered, and she put her arm back in her sleeve. Her sleeve was also singed, as well as parts of her cape.

I then examined my own burn. Oh. That is... not good.

"Third-degree, definitely," I muttered, then looked away. I could not look at that any longer. The Conductor cleared his throat. "The hell do you want?" I hissed.

"Well, I want to give ye two things for today as an apology," He said uncomfortably.

"I don't want your apology," I hissed, but the kid shushed me. He ran off and emerged later with two things. He tossed a Time Piece to the kid, who caught it with her good arm.

"Here, take one of these thingimajigs ye like so much, ye deserve it," He said, "Also, this is heavy-duty burn ointment. I dunno how often to use it, though, so..."

"So?" I said.

"_EY! GET THE MEDIC OVER HERE!_" He shouted, and an owl medic came over and was told what was happening.

"For the second-degree arm burn, apply it twice daily and the burn should heal in a week or so. For the third-degree leg burn... that's trickier. Keep the tube on hand at all times and make sure to have a decent amount of the substance on the burn area at all times. If the burn does not seem to have begun healing soon, go to a hospital. However, cleaning and debriding the wounds early is a good idea to avoid infections and more, and cold water always helps burns," The medic said.

"Ugh," I said, "Ok, thanks." The Conductor then stepped forward.

"What I did today was inexcusable. I shouldn't've said what I said, and I shouldn't've treated ye like expendables, like two worthless peck necks that we could afford to have injured. That's not the case, so I just want to apologize," He said, "Lassie, laddy, I'm truly sorry, I'm just an old peckin' idiot that took it too far."

The kid just shook her head and walked away, and I got up and limped after her.

She held the Time Piece up to the sky with her good hand and prepared to grab my hand with her other hand, but hesitated. Seeing this, I grabbed the Time Piece with my other hand and smiled at her. She closed her eyes, and seconds later, we were back on the ship.

Thank God.

Hopefully DJ Grooves has something more pleasant planned for us. If I see her put through any more danger or chaos for the sake of a goddamn movie, I don't think I'll be able to restrain my anger.


	14. Chapter 13: Burns

Chapter 13: Burns

**A/N: -**

**(I don't consider 'damn' much of a curse word.)**

**I'll get rid of (^) that if it seems annoying, but last chapter I felt a warning was an absolute necessity. Also, Reaper4425, I know, right? Half the time with some of these stories I have to stop and wonder what the peck the author actually meant. But I do upload a chapter or two per day, whereas some upload less than once a month. I know my chapters are quite a bit shorter, but still. An upload a day is still pretty nice.**

I sighed with relief upon remembering that the next recording was the next day. I dunno if I'll be able to do much, though.

So, I just sat down and looked at my burn, and the kid sat down next to me and looked at her burn as well. Oh, right. Conductor gave us burn ointment.

I pulled out a tube and popped off the cap, then motioned for the kid to reach out with her arm.

"No, your burn is more serious," She refused.

"Kid, I'm going to treat it anyway. A couple of seconds longer without burn ointment won't make the wound worse," I muttered, and she sighed, extended her arm, and pulled back her sleeve.

I put some of the ointment on my hand and began applying it to the wound. I could hear her hiss out in pain, and I sighed.

Why?

Of all the people that could've been hurt in that damned recording, why her? She's so delicate and elegant, why did it have to be her?! I don't care about myself, no, I'm fine with that. But her?

I shook my head and finished applying the ointment. She put her arm back in her sleeve and sighed.

"I'm going to have to stitch my sleeve, but I can't do it with one arm," She said sadly.

"Does your burn still hurt?" I asked.

"Not really," She muttered.

"I'm sorry," I said, and she gave me a look of extreme confusion.

"For what?" She asked.

"Not protecting you," I explained, "I could've and should've been there, up ahead, and deflected the egg bomb, but I became careless, and you got hurt because of it. So, I'm sorry for not defending you when I should've."

She didn't respond for a few seconds.

"I..." She stammered, "Mega."

I looked at her, and she looked at me.

"You don't need to be a wall for me, or be my shield," She said, "I've been on my own for quite a long time, I can handle myself and can take a few blows."

"Oh, I didn't mean-" I muttered, but she put her hand on my mouth, shutting me up.

"I don't mean that in a bad way. I appreciate what you do, I really do, but I don't want to lose you. You mean _so much _to me, no other person I've ever known has mattered to me anywhere near as much. I've already lost a lot. So, _please _watch yourself. If I lost you too..."

She began sniffling.

"I-I don't even know what I'd do. Maybe just end it all so I wouldn't have to go through the pain of losing someone again," She sobbed.

...

Did she just admit that she'd been thinking about or even contemplating suicide?

"Is... is that why you discarded that painting of you and me?" I asked, and she gave me a questioning look.

"You were in my gallery?" She asked, and I nodded. "Well... I guess... yes. If you really want to know, I'm just... scared that you'll either see me as a bad leader or friend, or get hurt, and you'll leave me."

I gently picked up her hat and rubbed her head, smiling warmly at her whilst doing so.

"I have to ask you something. How well do you think of yourself?" I asked, and she just looked down and shook her head.

"Nobody has ever cared for me, and everyone just saw me as good-for-nothing, annoying, and weak," She admitted. So, she'd begun seeing herself as such.

"Kid. You're the smartest, most talented, and most lovely person I've ever known. You have magical hats that can give you powers. And, you have a freaking spaceship that can travel through time! You're like a superhero!" I exclaimed, "Even more, the people love you. Did you not see how many people your fanclub has? It's in the millions! Don't doubt yourself. I'm not going to leave you. I'm going to stay with you, forever."

"Forever and ever?" She asked.

"Forever and ever. I'll be so happy to watch you grow up," I promised, and she looked up and smiled, then gave me a hug.

"Okay. You're right, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. All that matters is what you think," She said, and I frowned and shook my head.

"No, kid," I said, "The only person whose opinion you should care about is you." I tapped her on the nose lightly as I said that last word, which made her giggle.

I stood up.

Wait.

I have a third degree burn on my leg.

I fell to my knee and began cursing under my breath, fortunately the kid couldn't hear. I grabbed the tube of ointment and prepared to put the ointment on my wound, but hesitated.

This was going to hurt.

A lot.

I don't handle pain all that well unless I absolutely have to, like in a life-or-death situation.

"I can't do this," I grumbled, then the kid made a noise of annoyance and snatched the tube from my hands.

"Fine, you big baby! I'll do it myself," She hissed humorously, and I chuckled. She applied the ointment to my wound, which was below my knee but above my foot.

Surprisingly, the application of the ointment didn't really hurt. Must be because all my nerves are fried now. Great.

"Oh, yeah, third degree burns are often numb," I said, and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, would you like me to _kiss it_ better?" She taunted, and I shook my head in a bewildered manner. Since when was the kid this taunting and snarky?

"Ha, don't make me laugh," I replied, then thought of something. "What do you think DJ Grooves has got planned for us tomorrow?" I asked, "I probably won't be able to participate, because of... you know what."

Her playful manner seemed to fade, but I could see she was still in a good mood. "I dunno, could be anything. I do know one thing, though," She muttered.

"What's that?" I asked.

"If it's one of those weird techno dance videos he was recording in the studio, I'm going to smack him in the face for thinking me stupid enough to do that," She grumbled.

"What about me?" I asked, and she turned to me and gave me a sassy smirk.

"Eh, wouldn't surprise me if you did it," She remarked. She just did it again.

"You'd better watch yourself, kid. It's a good thing we have burn ointment here, cause you're gonna need some after my turn is up," I warned.

"There's only one turn in this game: mine," She taunted.

"You'll see, kid. You'll see," I said.

The rest of the day wasn't anything spectacular, we just chilled on the spaceship. At the end of the day, we both went to bed.

I frowned.

It unsettled me that she'd be flying solo for this recording, and I don't know why.

At least it'd probably be something to last time, yeah?

Hopefully.


	15. Chapter 14: Marvelous Mayhem

Chapter 14: Marvelous Mayhem

**#**

**A/N: So, you can probably guess which of the two directors I'm making the bad guy for the finale of Battle of the Birds. Hehe. It's gonna be interesting. I've also been receiving some pretty nice reviews, don't worry, I'm not gonna stop writing any time soon, and if I do, why not check out my other stories? (totally not trying to be a sellout)**

The next day, I got up. The first thing I did was apply more burn ointment to my leg. I got up, and cringed. It was very stiff. I checked the time and limped over to the kid's bedroom, and knocked on her door.

"Kid? Get up," I said, but I heard no response or movement. After a few minutes, I opened the doors and walked into her room. She was still fast asleep. I limped over to her bedside and gently nudged her. She shifted and groaned. I sighed.

"Good morning, kid," I said quietly and warmly, "It's time to wake up." With this and a bit more light nudging, she came to and opened her eyes.

"Morning already?" She grumbled tiredly.

"I'm afraid so," I answered. She hopped out of her bed, yawned, put on her hat, and slumped over before walking to the door.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked.

"Good, I guess," She replied, "Still tired, though."

I thought of something.

"Maybe this will wake you up," I muttered mischeviously, but before she could turn around, I knelt down to her and began tickling her neck.

And I thought _I _was ticklish. Good grief. She squealed and began squirming away, giggling like mad. She eventually got away and began punching me in the leg. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.

"_No!_" She shouted, "New rule: Never tickle me!"

"No promises," I said between fits of laughter. Although she was trying to seem angry, I could see the big, dumb grin on her face. She did the 'I'm watching you' gesture, and we exited the bedroom.

While we were getting ready, she was staring into my soul constantly, not daring to look away for longer than a second. Wow, I really must've caught her off-guard by doing that.

Eventually, we went down to the Moon set.

My jaw dropped at the sight, and I heard the kid gasp. A sea of people covering all of the streets, with parade floats everywhere. We landed on a building far away from the center building, and we slowly and carefully made our way to it, where the DJ was standing with 5 Express Owls, who were holding instruments.

I limped over to the first owl and narrowed my eyes.

"This may sound rude, but why are you here? Shouldn't you be with the Conductor?" I asked.

"You think we're going to work for him after he nearly got the rest of his actors blown to bits? I think not," He scoffed.

"True enough," I said, then walked over to the DJ. He grinned at seeing us.

"Hello, darlings," He greeted, "Welcome to the largest studio set you'll ever see! We're about to start recording The Big Parade, the movie that'll take the breath away from audiences worldwide! You'll be the stars, of course."

That was a plural.

I cleared my throat. "Uh, yeah, about that," I grumbled, "An... 'accident' occured while we were recording Conductor's movie, and, well, the kid's got a mild burn on her arm, and I've got a nasty burn on my leg. Ain't no way I'll be able to jump around and do stuff like this."

He seemed heavily displeased. "Hmph. I guess one marshall will have to do," I heard him grumble. He then put on a smile and looked down at the kid. "For this movie, we'll have to use our special prop! It'll pop out at the very end."

She nodded and began preparing herself. She seemed pretty excited. The DJ pointed over to a gift box lying on the ground beside him.

"But wait, darling. Your outfit really isn't fit for a parade. Can you go over there and... get dressed?" He muttered.

Change clothes in public, with multiple thousands of people watching? Hell nah, I'm not letting that happen.

She walked over to the box, and opened it, revealing a flashy red and white parade marshall outfit with golden buttons, as well as a red and white feather hat. She took them both, grinning. She seemed to read my thought from just now and gave me a thumbs up, then donned the outfit over her current clothes.

Ah, that made sense. However, I saw something else in the box, and she grabbed it. It was a similar outfit, but much larger. It also happened to be black where the kid's outfit was red, and blue where the kid's outfit was white. The buttons also happened to be silver. Instead of a hat, there was a black and blue exotic mask.

"Was the dark outfit for me?" I asked, and the penguin nodded.

"Yes, darling. I planned the movie to be for the two of you, either have her lead and you follow her like a sidekick, or have you lead with her on her shoulders, guiding you ahead. But, that's not happening now," He grumbled. I heard him mutter something under his breath: "That buffoon, always playing dirty! Now he injures _my _actors so they can't perform at my movies? Ugh."

So, he didn't care about us being injured, not on a personal level. He just cared about it on a business level.

I did not like this penguin. Not at all. But, the kid seemed to. I'll have to discuss it with her sometime.

"I'd like it if you put on this outfit as well, darling. That way you'll be looking sharp for the movie," He said.

"Very well," I responded. I tried putting on the outfit, but it wouldn't fit over my hoodie. Oh, peck.

I took it off and donned the outfit as fast as I could.

I folded the sweater nicely and tucked it away for safekeeping. Now would be a good time to wash it.

The kid walked up to me and the DJ grinned like mad at us.

"You look great, darlings! Don't worry, this movie is really easy. Keep moving around and the band will follow you, just don't bump into them," He informed, "And keep an eye out for goodies! The audience loves a good parade and will throw treats your way if you get near them."

I could immediately tell that this sparked the kid's interest. Maybe she'd get some more of that weird yarn she'd been collecting.

"The parade lasts a while, nothing you can do to speed it up. We'll let you know when we've got enough footage, don't lose spirit!" He warned.

Something seemed off about this. Just walking around collecting things while making sure not to stop moving? That seemed really easy... and really boring. The critics wanted a bit more action, that's why Conductor recorded Train Rush. What's this gonna be to top that?

He jumped onto his control float and beckoned for me to join him. I slowly and carefully climbed up onto it and sat down.

"Good luck, darling!" He wished to the kid, and I shot her a thumbs up.

"You've got this, kid!" I stated, and she grinned. She took a running start, and a Moon Penguin held up his flipper.

"3! 2! 1! GO!" They shouted, and the kid took off as music began playing and the owls began to follow her. She ran around, grabbing some various items that the crowds tossed to her, stunting, and laughing.

She was really seeming to enjoy this. However, I quickly lost interest. The only reason I kept watching was to supervise her.

"No offense, but doesn't this seem... kinda boring?" I asked, and DJ Grooves shushed me before lowering his shades a bit and winking at me. He turned on his microphone.

"It's time to turn the heat up in this movie! Darling, can you turn on the pyrotechnics?" He shouted through the mic, and spotlights began shining down on 3 dials scattered throughout the set.

The music kicked into a more anxiety inducing jingle. It was a tune that screamed 'Something BIG is about to happen".

I was not comfortable. Not at all. I had a very bad feeling about this. Regardless, the kid ran around and whacked each of the dials, turning them on. She and the band stopped moving to look at the center, which had spotlights on it.

A countdown had lit up on the center of the building, and various pyrotechnics were preparing to go off. 3, 2, 1, 0.

All of the pyrotechnics went off, showering the top of the building in sparks and electricity. To make this worse, the Moon Penguins standing on the building seemed to be in extreme amounts of pain.

The crowds just cheered, clearly thinking it was an act. The music returned to normal. I turned to the DJ and narrowed my eyes at him, and he just grinned nonchalantly.

I gave him the 'I'm watching you' gesture and turned back to resume watching the kid perform.

Unsurprisingly, the added... circumstances seemed to trouble her, but she kept moving around without trouble. I wasn't exactly losing interest this time, but it still didn't feel... complete.

The DJ seemed to notice this and turned on his mic once again.

"This movie needs more action! Darling! Turn on the firework cannons for the big fireworks show!" He ordered, and I could see the kid nod from where she was. However, I heard something in the DJ's voice that I KNEW justified my earlier concern.

It sounded like he was secretly planning something, something _big _that would happen. I turned back to the kid. There were 3 buttons on some floats, and the floats had cannons. The floats had spotlights shining on them. The same anxiety-inducing tone from earlier was playing.

She ran around until she stepped on the first button. The machine released a single, loud music note, and began rumbling to life. She jumped off, making her way to the next cannon. I stared at the cannon, and it shot out a firework rocket. But why was the cannon tilted sideways?

The firework began homing on something. It was chasing after the kid!

_**SHIT!**_

I grabbed the microphone from the DJ and turned it on.

"Kid! Watch out!" I screamed, and she turned to see the firework come after her. She barely dodged out of the way before it exploded.

More fireworks were coming. I heard pleased laughter, and turned back to the DJ, who snatched the mic from my hands.

"What the hell is this?!" I shouted.

"The parade fireworks show! The movie needed more action, what's more action-filled than dodging homing rockets?" He explained happily, and I stared coldly at him. "Relax, darling. She'll be fine. She can handle herself." I prepared to give him a piece of my mind when I heard another explosion.

I turned back to the kid. She'd turned on the other firework cannons. I saw the DJ activate a timer out of the corner of my eye.

"60 seconds. Come on, darling," He said quietly.

The kid was running around, terrified, with multiple rockets chasing her down. She had her running hat on and was running and jumping around erratically to confuse the rockets. One came far too close for comfort and knocked her forward slightly, but she got up. I could tell already that she was alarmed, but not hurt. Phew.

The timer went off.

"Time to release the parade surprise! Grab it, darling!" DJ Grooves shouted through his mic, then the kid immediately bolted for the center platform as the Time Piece lowered from the disco ball above.

I jumped off of the float, ran over to the Time Piece, grabbed it, and tossed it to the kid, who caught it easily. The music stopped, and the machines turned off. She landed next to me, panicked and panting. She was covered in soot and ash, had some scrapes, bruisings, and minor cuts, and was shaking uncontrollably.

I then saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned to look at it. The fireworks weer still live and careening straight for the kid, and she was completely unaware.

They were getting extremely close.

I tackled her just in time before the rockets collided where she was standing and exploded.

I got up, but she stayed on the ground. I didn't need to ask her if she was okay or not. I knelt down to her and slowly hugged her, and she hugged me back. I could hear her faintly crying, and I patted her back gently to comfort her.

"It's okay, kid. You're safe now. Nothing's gonna hurt you anymore," I cooed, and then I heard laughter coming from that stupid penguin.

He was sitting next to us and reviewing the footage.

"Oh, my, darling! This is incredible! This will beat whatever that poor excuse of an owl put out!" He exclaimed, and I became even angrier than I was with the Conductor yesterday.

"_You idiot! _Do you have any idea what you've done?!" I screamed, "You could've gotten your employees killed, but even worse: _You could've gotten the kid killed!_ But wait, you don't even care if she lives or dies, do you?"

He prepared to answer, but I cut him off before he could spew out anymore stupidity.

"Nah, you don't. Not at all. You only care about two things: filling your pockets and winning that idiotic award. Well, guess what? _**Go to hell! **_At least Conductor regretted his actions, but you? You regret nothing, like the worthless, pathetic, megalomaniacal piece of disco trash you are. Our business is concluded."

He gave me a nasty look. "I won't stop you, in fact, I'd be surprised if you decided to stay. However, keep those outfits, you both look good in them and you'll probably need them while you clean and repair your other clothes," He said.

Well, at least he was trying to be courteous now.

I just shook my head and grabbed the kid's hand, and we returned to the ship.

We're never recording movies ever again.


	16. Chapter 15: Solitary

Chapter 15: Solitary

**#**

I looked down at the kid to check her condition.

She was an absolute pecking mess.

I smiled at her.

"Come on, kiddo, let's get you cleaned up," I said. She had a shower, and stayed in her parade outfit as she washed and stitched her normal clothes. She offered to stitch the clothes I wore, but I had other clothes, so I was good.

I watched her remove the burnt material on her shirt arm and replace it with new material. Her handiwork with sewing was absolutely astounding. She finished it quickly and held up the shirt happily.

I walked forward.

"Hey, let me check your burn again," I advised, and she rolled up her sleeve. It was already looking better, but I put more ointment on it anyway. "Does it hurt?" I asked.

"A bit," She said.

"Well, that's better than no pain or a ton of pain," I stated, and she tilted her head, seemingly agreeing.

I sighed.

"You know, maybe I shouldn't have backed down," I suggested, and she gave me a disapproving look.

"And gotten yourself killed? No. I'm fine. A bit shaken, I guess, but I'm not hurt. This was the best-case scenario," She countered. As per usual, she was right.

"True," I said, "It just killed me to see you put through so much danger and I didn't and couldn't do anything about it."

"You warned me, that was doing something about it," She said.

"I suppose," I muttered.

"Like I said earlier, you don't need to be standing over me 24/7. Take some time to care for yourself, too. You can't take care of me if you aren't going to take care of yourself," She advised, "Okay? I appreciate your concern, I really do, but I can handle myself, I've been doing it for over a long time now."

"Okay, kid," I said.

"Also, why do you call me 'kid'?" She asked.

"If I'm offending you by calling you that, I can stop," I told her.

"No, no, not at all," She replied, "I'm just curious."

Hmm. "Well, I suppose it just felt natural to call you 'kid', 'kiddo', or 'the kid'. I don't know any other kids, after all," I explained, "It'd feel weird to call you 'Hat Kid', it feels unnatural."

She nodded and took a deep breath, then smiled.

"Okay!" She said happily, then skipped out of the room.

Such a unique kid.

The rest of the week was nothing special, except that one day the intruder alarm woke us up, and we found a cat sitting in the kitchen, who the kid apparently knew. Supposedly, the cat's name was Cooking Cat and offered to cook for us to welcome us to the planet.

That was nice, I guess.

She asked us whether we preferred steak or salad, and we both answered 'steak' at the same time. She made a joke about not eating peoples' flesh, which annoyed me, then turned back to the stove.

I dunno how, but my burn healed by the end of the week. I remembered that third-degree burns typically took weeks to heal, and here it was, healing in seven days. Very weird, but relieving.

The day before the award ceremony, I ran out into the main hub. Damn, did it feel good to be able to run instead of limping everywhere. However, I felt something hit me in the back of the head. I turned around and the kid was holding a pillow and giving me a taunting smirk.

"Watch yourself, kid," I warned, and she just laughed.

"You're too slow," She taunted, "Because of that, I'm gonna train you how to dodge."

"By whacking me with a pillow?" I asked.

"Well, yes, but..." She said.

She dove toward me with her pillow in hand, so fast I didn't move before she plowed into me. I fell to the ground, and she began smacking me with the pillow, before she jumped off. I got up quickly and found a pillow of my own, then chucked it at her.

She deflected it and picked it up, then threw both pillows at me, and I dodged the first, but not the second, and it hit me straight in the face.

"I could do this with one arm," She taunted.

"We'll see about that," I muttered.

So, the rest of the day was spent in a big pillow fight, and I did get better at dodging, but I was still covered in feathers by the end of the day. I'd hardly managed to hit her with a pillow, but then again, I kinda held back to try not to hit her too hard.

If I hurt her, I would literally never forgive myself. But if it was just a simple, harmless mistake, we'd probably laugh it off.

That day was a good day, but it made something clear.

She was faaaaaaaaar more capable than I could ever be.

The next day, we woke up, got ready, and went down to the studio. We walked inside, and the Conductor was waiting for us. He walked over to us and nodded in salutation.

"Ah! Ye've arrived!" He said, "The award ceremony'll begin soon, ye should probably go in soon."

"And what about you? Won't you be coming in?" I asked, and I could see his mood darken.

"Oh, I _would,_" He grumbled, "but that no good, dirty, shade-wearing peck neck beat me for the second time!"

"You've only lost once before?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Yes, the 42nd award was given to the DJ, and I'm absolutely pecking certain he cheated to get it!" He hissed.

"Well, we should probably be going," I muttered, and he nodded, then pointed toward a door. We walked into a dark room with the DJ sitting on a stage with a camera roll playing on the wall behind him. He was standing next to a golden annual bird movie award trophy.

He noticed us and grinned.

"Hello, darlings!" He greeted, "As you can see, I've won the annual bird movie award, and now my losing streak is over!"

"Good for you," I muttered.

"The Conductor is most likely in an extremely sour mood right now, shame I can't see that. Here, take my last prop, maybe you can keep it as a souvenir of your stardom," He said, then tossed a Time Piece to the kid, who beamed with joy. I frowned at the penguin.

"Is that all? No 'thank you' or anything for securing your win? Really? She risked her life for your victory, and you don't even thank her. Wow," I grumbled.

"You want _more? _Darling, darling, darling! If you wanted more payment, you should've mentioned it at the time! This trophy was won by me, and me alone. You just helped me. I could've found better actors, I'm sure of it. Now go skedaddle before things get heated," He hissed, "And don't you _**EVER**_ come back!"

I clenched my fists.

"Um," The kid said, and the penguin turned and scowled at her.

"That means you too, darling! You are both no longer welcome here, now go before I call security," He ordered.

She froze, and I saw tears stream down her face. She began pouting, and she stomped off.

Anger.

He just hurt the kid. _My _kid.

"Worthless piece of shit!" I shouted as I ran over to him and whacked him in the face as hard as I ever could with my baton. Words could not describe how satisfying that was.

He recoiled from the blow, and I ran after the kid. I ran outside, and saw her teleport up to the spaceship.

Well, now I'm stuck down here.

Unless...

I decided to check my pockets for the heck of it, and it turned out there was a Time Piece stashed there. There was a note written on it, with a little drawing of the kid smiling in the lower left.

'In case I'm ever unable to bring you home'

She entrusted me with one of her Time Pieces. I took it out and held it to the sky, then pictured the Machine Room in my head.

I heard a woosh, and I was back there. I bolted out into the hub and saw the doors to her bedroom open. I walked inside slowly, and she was sitting on her bed sobbing. It was the most I'd ever seen her cry.

She liked DJ Grooves. I knew this. His betrayal must have devastated her.

I sat down next to her and looked at her.

"Hey, kid," I said softly, and she looked at me.

"W-what did I do? What could've... angered him so much? Am I really that bad to everyone I meet?" She bawled, "I don't understand why you don't just leave."

I did the only thing that felt right in this moment. I got up, knelt down to her, looked her in the eye, and gave her a big hug.

"Don't let his words get to you, kiddo. I don't know much about support or whatever, but he's a bad person. His opinion doesn't matter. It's not you, it's him. He's just a jerk. So don't fret over him. You've still got me," I said, and her crying lessened. She hugged me back.

"You don't even need to say anything supportive. Being here for me alone is support enough," She said shakily, and I patted her head.

"You good now?" I asked, and she let go and nodded.

"Thank you," She whispered, "I don't know if I would've been able to live if I didn't meet you."

"Eh? I didn't save your life. If anything, you've saved mine!" I said light-heartedly.

"I don't mean... directly. My mind was unclear before I met you. I was troubled by things and now it's more clear. I... I'm not... over my past, so to speak, and I don't wanna say anything about it, but I'm not letting it dominate my life anymore, and that's all thanks to you," She explained.

I really helped her that much?

I thought I was just moral support.

"You don't need to thank me for anything, kid. I think we're even," I said, "You've also cleared my mind, too. You've brought back fragments of my memory. You've given me a place to stay, clothes, and more. But most importantly, you've given me a purpose in life. My life back home was... unspectacular, I suppose. At least from what I could remember. I wanted to do something that would make my life important, give me a purpose to living. You've done that. You've fulfilled my life wish."

She was silent.

"Well, then I guess we're both just a couple of happy dumbs in space," She said jokingly, and I chuckled.

"Let's go have some lunch," I said to change the subject, and she nodded.

So, we spent the rest of the day down in Mafia Town, having lunch at 'Seaside Spaghetti' (which was actually pretty good, believe it or not), taking in the sights, and chatting away at random things.

I thought of something.

"What do you wanna do when you grow up?" I asked her. She was silent.

"I... I don't really know. Did I tell you why I need the Time Pieces, other than just to power my ship and keep them out of the hands of evil?" She counter-asked.

"No, I don't think you did," I answered.

"Well, I... I won't go into too much detail, I'm not ready for a trip down memory lane, so I'll put it this way. I was hoping to find a new home, because my old one has become... unsuitable," She said darkly.

I prepared to ask more, but she put her hand on my mouth.

"Shut your trap," She hissed, "Just leave it at that or you'll just make me mad."

Jeez. I'd never seen the kid that irritated and... rude before. At the start of the week, after Train Rush, she was joking around. This time, I knew she was dead serious.

"Okay, calm down," I responded, "I just meant well." She stared coldly at me.

"Oh, yes, I know," She barked, "but I could make a list of good intentions that only caused harm so long it'd circle the equator of this planet." She then stared down at the ground guiltily.

"I didn't mean to freak out, it's just... It's a sensitive topic for me," She muttered.

"It's okay, kiddo, don't worry about it," I reassured, then saw that it was sunset. To emphasize my thought, she yawned. "Time for bed, kiddo," I stated, and she rolled her eyes.

"Already?" She pouted.

"Well, you're the one who's yawning," I countered, and she nodded slowly.

"Fine," She said, and we returned. I got her a glass of water and tucked her in, but before I could get up and leave, she gave me a tight hug around the neck. We said nothing, and I just smiled and patted her back. She slowly let go and laid back down, and I walked over to the door.

"Good night, kiddo," I said softly, and she smiled tiredly.

"Good night," She responded, and I left the room.

Then, I heard something that unsettled me very much. It sounded like a faint, but familiar ringtone. It was coming from the machine room. I entered the room and saw an old phone ringing with... the same ringtone from Murder On The Owl Express!

I picked up the phone.

"Hello? Who is it? Do you know what time it is?" I grumbled, but was shocked to hear the voice on the other side.

"The annual bird movie award was rigged. It was an inside job," The phone person from the same movie stated, "The winner knows about the power of the Time Pieces. He's been keeping one, and he's going to break it."

_**OH SHIT!**_

That's why he was so pissed at us!

"The truth lies buried underneath Dead Bird Studio. What goes on in Dead Bird Studio when no one is around?" They asked rhetorically.

"Well, I guess I'm gonna find out," I stated.

"Blow the cover on this thing, _**laddy.**_" They said.

It was the Conductor the whole time?! I thought it was someone else, maybe even DJ Grooves!

I began panicking, then prepared to wake up the kid, as she'd know what to do. But I stopped.

She'd already been through a lot today. If she found out that DJ Grooves betrayed her even more...

I don't know how she'd take it.

I made up my mind.

I'm going to be doing this alone. DJ Grooves would be too stubborn to submit, so there will be a conflict. The kid doesn't need to see or be a part of that.

So, it'll be a duel for the ages.

One versus one.

Mano a mano.


	17. Chapter 16: Trespassing

Chapter 16: Trespassing

**#**

**A/N: This chapter is a bit more boring. Next chapter is where the 'fun' truly begins. Got more reviews, I really appreciate the feedback. Ren4gade, that is very good to hear. However, I do not watch JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, I do not watch anime at all, so no, that was not a JoJo reference. And Guest, the lack of emotion is intentional. Don't worry, though. You'll see some **_**emotion **_**as the story progresses. *chuckles evilly* Also, if you're referring to the anime 'Soul Eater', again, I don't watch anime.**

I realized that me leaving the kid here would hurt her. I'd be betraying her trust. I knew that. However, there was no doubt in my mind that possibly saving her life would be worth losing what ties or attachments we had.

I landed in the studio. There was nobody here. All the lights were off, so I jumped up to the top of the room and crawled through the vent. I landed on my feet this time. I made my way over to the trolley, but it had no power.

I was going to have to jump.

I jumped, flipped, and dove, and managed to make the jump. I then looked down. Why would they make a studio where you could fall into a seemingly endless abyss? Why are there no floors in this place?

I shook my head and walked over to the saloon, then saw something.

There was an elevator, and it still had power.

I pressed the down button and stepped inside.

A short, tense elevator ride later, and I stepped out into a small room. The basement still seemed to have power. I observed the room and saw that I'd need to jump on top of a stack of crates to jump over a wall, and barely managed to do so.

From there I walked down a small hallway and came to a large room with no floors, and the only way to get from one end to another was to jump and tightrope walk around some power lines.

Fricking spectacular.

I jumped onto a vertical steel beam, then jumped onto a pipe attached to the wall. I ran across the pipe, then proceeded to bounce from power line to power line, somehow managing to not get zapped, and somehow managing to not fall into the abyss and break something.

I landed on a metal vent and saw a springboard in front of me, which I jumped on. It bounced me up to a higher level.

I could hear the DJ talking in the background, but I couldn't decipher much, nor could I figure out who he was talking to. I heard him mutter something about the Time Piece, but not much else.

So it was true, and not just a prank.

I looked around and saw my path. I jumped up onto a stack of boxes, jumped up to a taller stack of boxes, and then jumped up to a higher level of the room. I saw some yarn, but deemed it unimportant. Time Pieces came first, obviously. Yarn could wait.

I hopped across some vertical piping, then sprung up and clambered up onto a walkway. I walked over to the end, where a bit of the railing was broke off, and saw that I could probably swing across some broken piping.

I still had my hookshot badge on, so I extended my baton, and swung across the gap, landing near a door.

I then realized something I was far too busy to realize the only other time I've used this badge.

Swinging across gaps was damn satisfying.

I ran through the door, and my jaw dropped. I was in a _stupidly _tall warehouse.

If only I had the kid's top hat right now.

Actually, maybe bringing her along wouldn't have been a bad idea.

Well, it's too late now.

I walked around and looked for a way to ascend the room, and found a stack of boxes. I jumped on top of it, then jumped over to a larger stack of boxes. From there, I jumped and dove over a large gap to an even taller set of boxes.

I looked around, and saw a ridiculously large gap between the stack of boxes I was on and where I needed to go.

Well, worth a shot. I walked to the back end of the stack of boxes, took a running start, and sprinted to the other end of the platform before jumping, somersaulting, and diving over.

My hands clamped around the edge, and I was barely able to pull myself up. From there, I bounced off of another springboard up to a ledge, then ran across said ledge, and jumped down to another, shorter stack of boxes, avoiding a few cameras whilst doing so.

I jumped onto a sandbag, which bounced me over to another ledge. I ran across and jumped over a camera, landing on top of a taller set of boxes.

Ugh. This is going to suck.

I jumped onto another spring board and dove over to yet another stack of boxes. From there, I jumped over to a ledge, ran across it, jumped down to a slightly shorter stack of boxes, then bounced off of a sandbag over to the center pillar of boxes, which had some cameras on it. That's why I couldn't just directly jump on it earlier.

I heard DJ Grooves' muffled voice again. This time, I could hear it clearly. It sounded like he was in the middle of a sentence.

"... What's that, darling? Conductor's bomb?" He asked, "Hmm. Maybe I should steal it and keep it, in case a _certain somebody _pops in unannounced." He then chuckled darkly.

Oh.

He was expecting me, and he was prepared to go to the point of murder if necessary.

Forget what I said earlier, it's definitely a _damn good thing_ I left the kid out of this.

I did a bit more jumping, then jumped through a large garage door into another room.

This room was kinda dark, and I saw a panel on the ground. I recognized it, and stepped on it. It turned on, and I saw that it was attached via wire to an electrical box, and the box was next to a door. So, if I completely powered the box, the door next to it would probably open.

I saw a springboard next to me and jumped on it, then landed on a platform. I won't go into much detail about turning on all the panels, except that the room was patrolled somewhat by penguins, and that there were some crows seated at a table higher up in the room.

After I turned on all the panels, I stupidly walked off of a ledge to get down to the ground level, completely forgetting about my acrophobia.

I closed my eyes and was barely able to supress a shout, knowing it'd give me away. I prepared to slam down into the floor, but instead of feeling the hard feeling of bashing against steel, it felt like something... or someone... caught me.

I opened my eyes, and saw the Conductor standing there.

"Ye bleedin' idiot! Walking off a ledge like you were peckin' suicidal!" He hissed quietly, and I got up. "What in the name of peck were you thinking?!"

"I don't know! I wasn't thinking!" I whispered back.

"Clearly! For the love of peck!" He grumbled.

"So, why are you here?" I asked, "I thought you assigned this task to me."

"I did, but I felt ye could use a hand in case things went awry, and there's also the lil' lass," He said, and I tilted my head in confusion. The kid?

A smaller figure emerged from behind him and looked up at me. It was the kid.

"Kid?" I called, and she frowned at me. She had a betrayed look on her face.

"I thought you said you would never abandon me. I guess I'm just as stupid as everyone thinks to have believed you," She said.

Ohhhh, nooooo.

I knelt down and put my hand on her shoulder, which she batted off. I then put my hand on my knee.

"Look, kiddo, I'm sorry. You don't know how much it hurt me to leave you," I explained, "But, I thought you'd already been through enough this last while and thought that it would be best to leave you at the ship, just for your sake. But, you must leave."

"Why should I believe you?" She asked angrily.

"I'm not a sociopath, kid. I wouldn't build up your trust literally just to crush it later. No. But you must see that it was much better to risk losing your trust or respect than to risk losing you. I overheard a conversation DJ Grooves had with an anonymous person. He's stolen the Train Rush bomb, because he's expecting us, and he plans to use it. I can't let you be caught in that. So, you must leave," I stated.

"I'm not leaving. I've fought many enemies before, this will be no different. I'm stronger than you think," She said stubbornly.

"If you think I doubt your strength or talents, you're incredibly mistaken. I respect you more than anyone or anything else. This is about not risking losing the most important part of my life," I said, "My life is literally nothing without you, so I will protect you at all costs. At least your life is something without me. So, I must do this alone."

"No. Either we both make it through this or neither of us do, so whoever you fight, I fight. No exceptions," She stated.

I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to change her mind.

"Okay, I guess I have no choice. But, please, be extremely careful," I begged, and she nodded.

"Of course," She responded.

Conductor was still sitting there.

"Are you going to join us in the battle against 'DJ Peck Neck'?" I said, mimicking his accent near the end, which caused him to chuckle.

"No, no. I'm not a fighter. These old bones couldn't handle a scuffle, and even if they could, me reputation is low enough after... *ahem*... you-know-what," He grumbled uncomfortably, "I'll watch from the sidelines and cheer ye both on."

"Very well," I said.

"Good luck," He wished, then walked away. I walked over to the door that had now opened, and motioned for the kid to follow, which she did.

"Are you still mad at me about this?" I asked her.

"Well... Not really, no, just don't do it again, _please,_" She answered.

"It won't happen again," I reassured her.

We emerged in a small room with lots of chairs in front of a large wall-mounted television with static on it.

All of the doors were locked. I saw that there was a vent on the higher level of the room, but also saw that the only way to get up there would be to wall-jump between two walls.

"I can't do that!" I exclaimed, "I'm not a stunt double!"

The kid took off and seemed to ricochet between the two walls until I saw her run through the vent. Good lord. That kid was a loose cannon.

A few seconds later, a door opened, and the kid walked through. She motioned for me to follow, and I did. We emerged into a large hallway, and I walked over to the end, but was blocked by two cameras. However, in front of the two cameras, there was a tiny pole of boxes. I climbed on top and jumped up to a walkway.

A couple of seconds later, and the kid was up there, too. We walked forward until our progress was blocked by a wall, so we then had to jump back down on the other side of the cameras and run into a room.

It seemed to be the DJ's office or dressing room.

The kid ran through a door, and I followed her. We were on the other side of that wall, and she ran into another room.

"Kid, wait up!" I demanded, and ran into the room after her. She jumped onto a shelf and jumped to the other side of a room to avoid a camera, and I did the same, but I bonked my head off of the ceiling.

I followed her into another room, which looked like the Conductor's meeting room. Cameras were put on each seat of a large rectangular table in the center of the room, but a hook was hanging from the ceiling.

I used my badge to swing off of it and jump on top of a trophy case, and the kid did the same. She then jumped into a vent and fell down into another room, and I followed her.

This room looked like the Conductor's office or dressing room.

The kid was looking up at some posters. They were posters for Murder On The Owl Express, Train Rush, and another Conductor movie that I didn't recognize.

Oh, man, those posters looked good. The poster for Murder On The Owl Express showed the kid in her detective outfit looking around with a look of suspicion on her face, and behind her, it showed Conductor, some crows, and some owls in very suspicious poses, then at the very back, me in my trench coat seeming to poke around for evidence in the shadows, or trying to hide in the shadows.

The poster for Train Rush also looked good, it showed me and the kid running for our lives on top of the train, with nothing but carnage behind us.

"These posters look awesome!" I exclaimed, and she nodded.

"Since when did we give them permission to make posters of us?" She complained.

"We never signed a contract for anything here," I explained.

...

We're not being paid for these movies.

"Well, that's disappointing," I grumbled.

"I suppose Time Pieces were our payment?" She questioned.

"I guess," I said, "We're getting sidetracked."

She nodded, and I looked around. It seemed that we could bounce off of a few sandbags to get up to a vent. I watched her do so, and then did so.

I followed her into another vent, and saw that there was a gap between one end and the other, and this gap had a glass extending downward somewhat from the ceiling, and I looked down into the gap.

There was a large fan at the bottom. You fall into that, you'll be hacked and slashed to bits.

I saw the kid jump down, then do a flip in the air to boost herself onto the platform. She looked at me through the glass wall.

"Come on, I don't have all day," She said.

"I'm not suicidal. There is absolutely no way I can do what you just did!" I stammered.

"Just try it," She said, and I sighed.

I jumped down and did a flip in the air to try and replicate what the kid did. Yeah, that worked. Not.

I shouted out in surprise, but felt her grab my hand with both of her hands. I looked at her, and she was giving me a look of determination.

How in the hell...?

She pulled me up with a grunt, and I stared at her in shock.

"Kid?" I muttered, "How did you just?... I'm an adult, and you just yanked me up like I was a fricking small chest."

She stared at me. "I'm an alien, remember?" She said, "Clearly my species is _much _stronger than yours."

I shook my head in disbelief. "You're a kid, and you already have superhuman strength. How strong will you be as an adult?!" I exclaimed.

"Probably strong enough to demolish a brick house with just my umbrella in minutes," She said nonchalantly.

Holy shit.

"W-well anyways, let's keep going," I stuttered, and I walked out of the vent, and saw a vertical vent.

"This is the way," She said, then jumped down into it. I followed her, but it was a bit of a tight squeeze.

I landed next to her, and she was looking at an elevator.

This elevator was covered in caution tape, and had multiple signs saying "No Humans Allowed" and "No Kids Allowed".

"Well, this is it," I said tiredly, and she nodded. I got up and pressed the down button on the elevator, and we entered.

Hopefully we can talk some sense into him.

If not, I guess we'll have to smack some sense into him.


	18. Chapter 17: Explosive Encounter

Chapter 17: Explosive Encounter

After a very quiet and tense elevator ride, the elevator opened. In front of us, there was a large square room with a dance floor covering the ground, and a fake small moon in the center. DJ Grooves was standing on a stage.

I walked forward, and so did the kid. I immediately took a defensive stance over her.

"Look who we've got here, darling! Looks like you've found my little secret, huh?" He asked rhetorically, and I scowled.

"Even if you didn't have a Time Piece, I would've probably bashed your face in already. But, I'm willing to give you one last chance. Give the kid what belongs to her and her alone, and we'll skedaddle," I threatened.

"This last Time Piece is all for me, darling. If you want it, well, I guess you've just gotta come and get it!" He hissed.

Music began playing, and the penguin jumped up into the rafters. This action just screamed 'divebomb', so I jumped into the air, and sure enough, he dove for me and landed right under me.

I dropkicked him in the face, and he retreated back to his stage. He whistled, which immediately made me think of the Mafia Boss, and I looked up to see stage lights prepare to fall. I picked up the kid and ran out of the way.

The DJ grumbled, then jumped down and tried to body slam us. I dashed out of the way, and the kid smacked him in the face with her umbrella.

He then jumped back, and jumped back into the rafters. He descended on a large disco ball.

"Here we..." He said, "GO!"

The ball slammed down into the ground, knocking me off balance and knocking the kid into the air. It created a shockwave, which I jumped over, and I clocked him in the face with my baton before I landed, using the gravity to throw more weight into my attack.

He seemed to follow a certain attack pattern, and he only used the same attacks over and over again, so it was actually kinda boring.

That was, until he jumped back onto his stage and began shaking with rage.

"_You've done it now, darling!_"He snarled. I heard a distinct _shink _noise. I looked at him, and he was holding a knife.

The lights turned off, and the music stopped playing. All that could be seen was the knife. He jumped down, and the knife came toward the kid as he shouted.

She dodged it, but we were both shocked.

Ok, yes, the Mafia Boss used machetes, but this?

_**WHAT THE FUCK?!**_

What sick, twisted excuse of a person tries to _**STAB A LITTLE GIRL?!**_

The lights came back on, and she whacked him in the face. He retreated to his stage again, and pulled out his knife again. I walked over to the stage, and he jumped down, kicked me back as he did so.

"Check this out!" He shouted, then began rapidly thrusting the knife forward in my direction, slowly walking toward me.

This bird had gone mad.

I saw the kid sneak up behind him and stomp on his head, but she got a small cut in the process. That knife was 100% real. He then summoned another disco ball, and lowered it a bit.

"Ladies and..." He began, then it fell a bit, and we both jumped, but it didn't fall completely, he must've been psyching us out. "Gentlemen!" He shouted as the ball fell into the ground.

However, the kid had already jumped forward, and collided with him like a cannonball, knocking him backward.

He proceeded to use the same attacks again, but once again, we learned how to dodge them all.

You know, I wasn't expecting too much of a fight, cause he's a director, but this seemed a bit... too easy.

After about a minute, he became angry again.

"Darling, _**DARLING YOU'RE SO RUDE!**_" He screamed, then whistled, which summoned some cars to circle around us. They seemed like they were going to try to ram us, so we jumped barely in time. He then pulled out his knife, but this time, someone took a picture of him, and life-size photos of him holding the knife appeared beside him. The lights went off, but this time 3 knives were glowing. Two went after me, but one went after the kid. We both dodged, and the DJ appeared behind her. She gave him a hard whack to the face.

So, photo-copies of attacks, eh? Concerning. He created two photo-copies of him on a disco ball, but this time none of them psyched us out.

This pattern repeated for quite awhile, but he'd summon 4 images instead of 2. I don't know how we were able to dodge it all.

DJ Grooves became even more angry. "How could you do this to _ME, darlings?!_" He yelled, then the lights went out again. I walked over to the stage, but there was just a Moon Penguin playing a relaxing tune on a piano.

A spotlight activated on the center of the arena, and DJ Grooves appeared, sitting on a chair next to a nice table, and there was another chair sitting opposite of him.

"Let's have a little heart-to-heart," He suggested, "Have a seat, darling."

I don't trust this at all.

I slowly sat down and gave him a look of suspicion.

"Ever since you two arrived on this planet, these Time Pieces have been falling from the sky," He explained, "Now, I can understand if you feel they belong to you, darling. I understand. But did you know they can allow for rewinding time?"

I nodded. "Uh, yeah, we did. But, y'see, the kid had a friend who also found out about that little secret earlier, and she completely freaked out because the kid didn't want to use them for her reckless purposes. So, keeping them a secret seemed the logical option," I answered.

"You mean the girl with the moustache? You know, she was here, too. She told me about this little time-rewinding gimmick," He said.

"That explains a lot," I grumbled, "She probably lied about us, tried making us seem like bad people when we're not."

"With a single Time Piece, I could reclaim all the trophies that belong to _me,_ darling! Every single trophy I've lost to the Conductor, where he's cheated his way to victory," He exclaimed, "I can't prove it, darling, but I'm certain the Conductor has been manipulating everything to make sure I never win."

"But you just won?" I asked rhetorically.

"This was my second ever win, darling. We've had dozens of them, and I've only won two? You'd think with our skills they would be more evenly split," He explained, "I need just one Time Piece to fix years of cheating and fraud. Can't you spare me just one Time Piece, darling?"

"Well, uh, look. First of all, you can't even prove that Conductor is guilty of your accusations. Also, rewinding time is extremely dangerous. You could make a paradox, make an even crappier alternate reality, break the Universe, whatever! It's not worth it for just a few trophies. Even if it was, I'm not one to decide. That's up to the kid to decide, and I'm not gonna say 'yes' for her, so the answer is no," I grumbled, "Look, I get you have good intentions, but please, just give us a chance to be civil here. We don't need to fight any more. Let's just have a nice chat with just the four of us, me, you, the kid, and the Conductor."

He shook his head. "Darling, darling, darling, you're so _**PERSISTENTLY selfish! **_I've brought you, both of you, to stardom, and all I ask in return is a single Time Piece, but you won't share?!" He hissed.

"Woah, calm down, I don't mean it that way. That's also a rough way of saying it. I'm not being selfish, I'm being smart," I said.

"Well, if you want this Time Piece back so bad, come and get it," He said, then I felt something click and attach to my back.

"Eh?" I muttered.

The lights disappeared, and so did the table and chairs. The lights turned back on, and the kid was pointing at me with a look of horror.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

DJ Grooves was back on stage, and I gave him a look of extreme suspicion.

"Remember this little bomb? I stole it from the Conductor's movie set, and now it'll be your demise!" He gloated.

Oh.

A familiar ticking started to sound, and the music came back on. He jumped off of the stage and began running around, flailing his arms wildly.

"Time's ticking away, darling!" He taunted, but I intercepted his path with a kick to the face. He then jumped up to the rafters, but didn't dive bomb.

Instead, he pulled out sawblades and tossed them along the ground in our direction. We both jumped over them as they zoomed along the floor, somehow not damaging it.

He divebombed down at the kid, who dashed back. I smacked him in the face.

He then jumped over to a corner of the arena and took out more sawblades, before tossing them along the ground. He paused for a moment, so I bolted over to him and clocked him in the face.

He jumped back up to the rafters, but we dodged his attacks and I hit him again. He jumped onto his stage, and I saw something yellow move around in the stands.

"Lad, over here!" Conductor screeched, "Hang in there, I'll find a way to defuse the bomb!"

I nodded, and we kept fighting DJ Grooves. Conductor seemed to be taking his sweet fricking time.

"My defuser is ready! Come 'ere!" Conductor shouted, and I bolted over to him. He pulled out a ridiculously sized pair of scissors and snipped the bomb's antenna.

A power-down noise was heard, and I felt the bomb drop off of my back, completely useless now.

DJ Grooves seemed to be absolutely pecking furious.

"Oh, that's it! Time to bring out the big guns!" He stammered as banners lowered from the ceiling and the music switched to a more jazzy tone.

Four Express Owls fell from the ceiling, each holding a knife. Oh, lord.

DJ Grooves shouted something to them, but I couldn't hear over the music. The owls nodded and took off after the kid. DJ Grooves jumped down in front of me.

"It's just you and me now, darling!" He hissed, and unsheathed his knife. I wielded my baton and smirked.

"You may regret that," I said, and we began clashing knife to baton. The penguin was a lot stronger than he looked. However, I got a cheap shot in and knocked him back toward his stage.

I took the chance to see how the kid was doing outrunning the owls, and she was doing well. But, I could see that she was tiring of running, and I got between them.

"I wonder how small your brains really must be," I taunted, and they shifted course for me. Good, good. The kid ran off and began fighting DJ Grooves. She bested the Mafia Boss easily, she could handle this.

Outrunning the owls was laughably easy, as they completely imitated my movement.

After a few minutes, I heard a sharp yelp, and I turned to where it came from. The kid was on her knees with her head down, and she looked dead tired.

She was trying to get up, but couldn't. I looked at DJ Grooves, who was brandishing his knife.

"Looks like it's bedtime for you darling. Forever," He hissed, then prepared to charge.

Yeah, like I'm gonna let that happen.

I jumped between the two and took a defensive stance, and counterattacked when he came toward me, sending him careening back all the way into his stage. He grumbled from pain, and I smirked.

"Not this time, jackass!" I shouted. Something felt... funny. Like something wasn't right. Well, there was A LOT that wasn't right at the moment, but this felt physical.

Why did it feel like I was drooling?

The kid got up and pointed at me in a look of horror. She was trembling completely.

"What?" I said, then wiped away some of the drool from my mouth. I looked at my hand, and gasped to see crimson red on it.

I looked down and saw a sight that would've made me vomit if it were someone else.

DJ Grooves' knife was stuck through my side, and my clothes were covered in a blotch of crimson red.

I realized that I'd been stabbed.

I've taken the knife for her.

Just as I realized that, a pain unlike any ungodly agony I've ever felt or could've possibly felt in my past life shot throughout my entire body, and I fell backward screaming.

I was going to die. No way I'm surviving this.

The only solace there was for me was that I'd died the way I wanted, gotten the brave, heroic, and gallant end I've wanted.

I've saved a life with my sacrifice. Not just any life, but the most valuable life to ever exist.

I saw her crawl toward me, shaking like a leaf and crying.

"Why did you do that?" She asked weakly. I took a deep breath and ignored the torture I felt.

"Because it was the right thing to do," I said, "I'm not going to let you die. Never. You know something? I'm happy right now, because now I know I'll go down as a hero."

She wrapped her arms around my neck and began sobbing.

"No! You don't have to die to be good! You've already saved me! This can't be happening!" She cried. I patted her head.

"Kid, I want you to promise me something," I stated. She let go and nodded slowly, still crying.

"Don't hold back because of me. Don't let the loss of me prevent you from finding happiness, friends, or anything. I did this to save you, kid, as I felt you were worth saving. Don't let my deed go to waste," I muttered, and she nodded slowly, then hugged me again. I weakly hugged her back, and I let my head rest.

I have not felt this tired for as long as I can remember.

I looked to see DJ Grooves get up and walk over with a skeptical look on his face. The kid's expression went blank, and she just stood up and looked at him. She began shaking more, but I knew this was something different.

"You... You piece of... You pecking sadistic walking piece of penguin trash. You... I can't believe it," She hissed, "_**YOU STABBED MY BROTHER!**_"

...

She...

She just called me her brother.

...

I suppose I am now, or should I say was.

I heard a screech, and saw her run toward the penguin at a speed unlike anything I'd ever seen.

I heard an extremely loud smacking noise, and the penguin was shot out into his stage so hard it completely destroyed it.

Where he was standing before, the kid was now standing, her umbrella clenched in her hand. Conductor jumped out of the stands and ran over to me. I smirked and nodded weakly in salutation.

"_**Oh peck!**_" He screeched, "**WE NEED HELP OVER HERE, **_**NOW!**_" Did we really, though?

I tried to get up. "I can handle myself..." I mumbled, but fell down, which aggravated the knife in me.

Holy f-...

"GAH!" I screamed. The kid ran over and the two looked at eachother wondering what to do.

They both screamed something at the top of their lungs at the same time: "_**MEDIC!**_"


	19. Chapter 18: Message

Chapter 18: Message

**A/N: Wow, I can't believe it. This story hasn't been out for that long and it's already my most popular story. Words cannot describe my appreciation for all of your feedback and support. starseechild, thank you very much. I figured people would like that. This story was mostly inspired by Konan720's story AHIT: Amnesiac's Journey, so if you like this, check that out. Greatazuredragon, I basically did the same thing after I heard of the game, haha. Thanks for the feedback!**

My senses became blurred quickly after. Is this what it feels like to be drunk? Makes me wonder why anyone would drink that damned stuff.

After an amount of time I cannot tell, the medics came and I felt myself being lifted onto a stretcher.

It was actually very comfortable.

My eyes drooped. Damn, I was so tired. I need to sleep.

"Laddie? Stay with us!" A voice shouted, but I couldn't tell who.

"Mega! Please! Stay awake!" Another voice screamed, but I also could not tell who it was.

Hearing this, I tried to keep my eyes open, but there was no fighting it.

Maybe a nice little nap would help.

...

After an indeterminate period of time, I realized I was conscious. Beeping faintly came into my hearing.

Holy hell, was my abdomen sore. Did I take a sucker punch to the gut from a fricking bodybuilder?

Oh, right.

I was stabbed by that a-hole.

I opened my eyes, and found myself in a white hospital room. I rubbed my eyes and groaned. I looked over and saw a door open, revealing a bird doctor. I couldn't tell exactly what bird he was, but he definitely wasn't an owl or a penguin.

"Ah, you're finally awake! You were beginning to worry us," They said in a masculine voice.

"How long was I out?" I muttered.

"About... 40 hours, give or take," He answered, "Had Conductor and your little friend not rushed you in, odds are you would have bled out." Oh, right! The kid.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"In the waiting room. She said she wouldn't leave until you woke up," He explained, "Do you want me to bring them in?"

"Yes, please," I said. The doctor nodded and left. Around 10 boring minutes later, the door opened again, and 3 people entered. The kid ran over to me and gave me a light hug. She seemed like she was about to say something.

"Don't say anything, kiddo. You don't need to say a thing," I whispered, then she nodded and let go.

It was then I noticed something that made me frown.

What was wrong with her?

Her mannerisms seemed... off. Her gait seemed unsteady, and she seemed to have a completely different behaviour.

"Kid? You alright?" I asked, and she frowned.

"You're asking _me_ if I'm alright?" She grumbled, and I stared disapprovingly at her.

"That isn't an answer," I stated, and she sighed.

"Yes, I'm fine, well, as fine as can be," She said sadly.

"Well... I meant physically. You seem... to be frank... ill. Did you catch the flu or something?" I asked, and she shook her head no.

"No, I'm fine," She stated, and Conductor decided to step in.

"If ye consider walking around like a drunk fine, then ye need to re-learn yer vocabulary, lassie," He said, "Ye haven't slept in almost 2 whole days, ye need rest!"

"And leave him here? No," She hissed.

"Kid, I'm not going to magically disappear if I'm out of your field of view for a few hours. I'll be fine. You do not seem fine. Go back and sleep," I advised, and she stomped her foot down stubbornly.

"No!" She pouted.

"Do you have any idea what the side effects of sleep deprivation are?" I asked seriously, "Major decreases in brain activity, especially in the parts of the brain that deal with alertness, possibility of heart problems, even a chance for fricking stroke, and if you go for long enough without sleep, even death! I'm not going to die! You will if you don't sleep!"

She stepped back, clearly alarmed by my little outburst. She looked down guiltily.

"I just don't want to leave you here all alone," She said sadly, and I leaned over and put my hand on her shoulder.

"I won't be alone, kid, there's always Conductor here to keep me company. If you truly don't want to leave me alone, you must sleep, so go back and rest, please," I begged.

She sighed and looked at me before nodding and smiling sadly. Conductor walked over to her and put his arm... wing... whatever around her, then motioning towards the door.

"Come, lassie, let's get you home," He cooed, then the two left.

I was alone now.

That was, until I felt a familiar feeling of being watched creep through me. I frowned, knowing it was the same trickster who gifted me the hookshot badges before Train Rush. Yes, they were helping us, but that didn't mean they were trustworthy.

"Who's there?" I asked.

"Ah, how funny," A voice whispered, "You said the same thing to me countless times before."

Eh?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Hmm, you do not remember me? Just as I suspected," It said.

It knew me in my past?

"Who... who are you?" I asked. I heard chuckling.

"Who I am is an irrelevent topic as of now. I come here bearing a message. There is a forest on this planet, a deep woods with sentient residents, and it happens to be where some of your friend's objects landed after her mishap. However, this is no ordinary forest, it is a dark, cursed place home to primordial magic older than even the forest itself, and is ruled over by a dark beast. However, not much is known about it, as all who have seen it have never lived to tell the tale," It explained.

Gee, how uplifting. But how did I know this mysterious voice was telling the truth?

"How do I know you're not lying?" I asked.

"That is up to you to decide. Regardless, I sense something grand shall occur," It said, then I felt the presence disappear as it cackled.

I'd have to discuss this with the kid, but something told me we're going to be exploring a spooky haunted forest as soon as I'm outta here.

The thought sent shivers down my spine, and I remembered something.

I have a deathly fear of ghosts, or anything dead.


	20. Chapter 19: Boredom

Chapter 19: Boredom

**A/N: I'd like to clarify something. Earlier, in response to a review, I said that a certain line I made Mega and Hat Kid say wasn't a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure reference. Well, I'm stupid. I forgot that that line originated from JoJo, so, yes, it was a JoJo reference. Also... **_**YEA BOI NYAKUZA METRO IS RELEASED!**_** I already completed it in full, got the storybook, yada yada yada, writing about it... well... **_**IT'S GONNA BE PECKING SICK. **_**Also, I know, I didn't upload all weekend, and a shorter chapter to top it off. I can have breaks, too.**

The recovery period was boring. I was laying down in my hospital bed 24/7 watching movie re-runs and whatnot, with visits from people sometime. Ugh. It was so fricking boring, I nearly lost my mind. I wouldn't have even minded if that strange voice popped in to say hello again.

I was near the end of my recovery. I woke up, and after a while the kid popped in to say hello.

"Hi, Mega!" She greeted cheerfully, "How are you?"

"Physically? Great. Emotionally? Not so well," I grumbled.

"What's wrong?" She asked, clearly concerned.

"Its... so... boring here!" I exclaimed, and she giggled.

"You know, you look a whole lot different without your sweater, or something covering your head," She said.

_**OH, RIGHT!**_

"Speaking of that, where is my sweater?" I asked. Hopefully it was still ok to wear.

She frowned and left. She returned a couple of minutes later.

Oh, no.

There was a large slit in the sweater from the knife, and even if that was stitchable, there was no removing the giant bloodstain on the lower section.

It's trash now.

I sighed and looked down. My sweater was the only item I had that gave me a connection to my past, linked me to my old world.

Something poked me on the forehead, and I looked up to see the kid grinning from ear to ear with her hands behind her back.

What was she holding?...

"I know how much it mattered to you, and I know I can't make it up to you what you did for me, but..." She said, then held out her hands, revealing what seemed to be an exact replica of my dark grey sweater, but with blue lightning bolts on the hood.

"I spent all night sewing this for you," She stated, "I even put an ability in it, you'll have higher stamina, strength, speed, and platforming ability than you would without it." She then put it in my hands. The fabric felt really nice, even just holding it.

I can't believe she'd do that for me.

"Kid..." I muttered, "Y-you actually made this? For me?"

She scratched her head. "It's the least I could do, y'know?"

I sat up, and hugged her. Her hat fell off of her head, but neither of us cared. "Kid... you didn't need to do anything for me. But... thank you. This means so much to me, I'm actually surprised I'm not crying." I whispered, then laid back down.

I rubbed my eyes, and found some tears there. Turned out I was crying a bit, after all.

"I should probably get going," The kid said sadly, and I smiled at her.

"Okay, kid. See you soon," I muttered. She grabbed her hat and waved goodbye before leaving.

Man, I can't wait to put on this new sweater.

Eventually, the hospital staff deemed me healed enough to leave. After hearing this, I got up, took some time to get used to walking again, and walked out of my room. I felt something collide into me and I fell down to the ground.

I clutched my side immediately, and shouted out in pain. That really hurt. Hopefully I didn't tear the wound back open. But no blood appeared, so I'm good.

I then turned my attention to whatever tackled me, and realized the kid was giving me a giant hug.

Now, I know this may seem kinda weak, but I literally couldn't breathe.

That kid is _stupidly _strong, so my lungs were having trouble getting the air they needed.

I quickly patted her on the head.

"Kid... I get it... let go... please," I was barely able to mutter, and she let go and scratched her head nervously.

"Sorry," She whispered, and I smirked.

"You don't need to be," I said, then got up. "Well? What are we doing now?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and made an "I dunno" gesture.

"Well... if you don't know where to go..." I muttered, "Let's check out that big purple forest."

"Why?" She asked, "Won't it be spooky and scary?"

"You've fought a Mafia boss and a crazed adult penguin and you're scared of a forest?" I asked, trying my best not to seem taunting or condescending. Clearly I didn't try hard enough, as she frowned at me.

"I don't like ghosts!" She pouted, and I nodded.

"Me neither," I said, "But, remember how those badges appeared before we did Train Rush?"

She nodded.

"Well, remember how I said I felt a presence and heard a voice?" I asked again, and she nodded again. "Well, the same presence and voice appeared to me awhile ago and told me that Time Pieces had fallen there."

"How do we know that voice is trustworthy?" She asked.

"Hey, he... it... whatever... helped us before, why would it lie now?" I countered, and she nodded.

"I have a bad feeling about this," She grumbled, "But, if there are Time Pieces there, then we must go."

I nodded, and we left the hospital. Finally being outside again, it made me realize just how much I took my liberty for granted.

This is the first time in my life I could basically do whatever I want.

But I knew my mission, my objective, and planned on fulfilling it.

We returned to the ship, and I peered down at the gigantic, dark purple forest on the planet. Even from such a large distance, I could tell it was no ordinary forest, and could sense that it was home to otherwordly phenomena. I have no idea what to expect, other than what that voice said.

"You know something, kid?" I muttered, "I have a bad feeling about this, too."


	21. Chapter 20: Nyctophobia

Chapter 20: Nyctophobia

**#**

**A/N: Writing should return to normal pace now. Time to begin Subcon Forest.**

The kid restored power to her bedroom, and we entered. A telescope was now in the center of the carpet. I looked through the telescope, and landed at the base of a stupidly large tree. It seemed to be hollowed out, and the inside had some bookshelves and a seat, almost like it was someone's study or library. Odd.

I heard the kid land, and we walked around. I saw some... thing... looking at us, and I walked toward it. It was a strange shadow creature with a golden, glowing blob for a face. It looked at the kid, or at least seemed to.

"Found your way here already? That's a shame," It grumbled from no visible mouth.

Well, that's certainly not a good sign.

"Kid, stay near me. Don't ever leave my vicinity," I demanded, and she nodded. I looked around, and saw another shadow creature look at us, then run away. That seems like a good lead. "Hey! Wait!" I called, then began to chase it.

Eventually, it stopped, and we both approached it. But, instead of the shadow talking to us, I felt myself being swept off my feet, and was barely able to see a tarp rise up and ensnare us. I heard the shadow chuckle, then run away.

"Very funny, dude. Now release us!" I shouted, but no response came.

Ugh.

...

Why was it so quiet now? A cacophany of shrill noises pierced the air, which sounded like a colony of panicked bats fleeing.

A large, distant _**BOOM **_shook through us, then, after a few seconds, another one, but this sounded slightly closer. It was as if some titanic being was slowly walking toward us.

"We need to break this tarp, now!" The kid screamed, and we both began jutting our weapons out, trying to snag and tear the fabric.

After about a minute, it finally worked, and we fell down to the ground.

Something's wrong, _**VERY **_wrong!

The ground and the scenery was enveloped in a void, almost like we were phased into a dimension of void.

I sensed something behind us, and turned around to witness possibly the most awe-inspiring sight I've ever seen.

A _huge _humanoid shadow with a golden, glowing, evil face was roaring at us. My jaw dropped, and I heard the kid fall backward, clearly just as shocked.

The shadow cackled evilly.

"_**FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLS!**_"

This is the beast that voice was talking about, isn't it?

"**You blew it! You've totallly screwed yourselves! Nobody enters **_**my home **_**and leaves in one piece!**" It hissed. Well, it had a masculine voice.

Yep, that proves it. This is the beast.

We are s_crewed._

It seemed to adopt a thoughtful look.

"**Tell you what, though. Hang on a minute! You both get to live!**" He stated evilly.

"Wait, really?" I stammered.

"**That's right! Aren't **_**you**_** lucky? Normally I'd eat your souls and toss your bodies, but you're both very lucky!**" He exclaimed.

This seemed... off. What's the catch?

"**You've both won the lottery, as I just happen to be missing a braindead servant!**" He explained.

Oh, there's the catch. He lets us live, and we do work for him. Well, it'd give us a chance to roam the forest and search for Time Pieces.

"What do you mean 'braindead servant'? What, did you work your old slave so hard he died?" I asked sarcastically. He didn't seem to get my sarcasm, and grinned evilly.

"**That's right! The old one got himself killed, his head popped off, and now I need a new towel boy!**" He said.

Ugh, here we go again.

He snapped his shadowy fingers, and a bolt of lightning struck down, creating a piece of paper labelled 'Contract'.

"**So, tell you what, I've got a piece of paper here. Don't worry about the details, I just need you both to sign right here at the bottom!**" He demanded, and I stepped forward and read the paper. The kid leaned forward, clearly wanting to see what it was about as well.

The jist of the contract was that he wanted us to find some village... kill... kill some fire spirits, and then find and clean some big, old well. Other than the second part, this seemed easy enough, no big deal! It actually seemed like a winning situation for us!

However, it was the message written at the bottom that ground me to a halt.

'I'll be keeping the following hostage: **your souls, **but keep anything you find on the way!'

I stepped back and shook my head. Why would I willingly hand over my soul to a shadow demon?! His smile lessened slightly.

"**Come on, now! Don't make this difficult! You don't really have a say in this, so sign the paper,**" He grumbled.

"I'd rather not..." I said. He scowled at me.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

"**I don't think I made this clear enough. **_**YOUR OPINION... DOESN'T MATTER TO ME! **_**Put your names on the contract or I'll make your **_**dead, hollow bodies **_**sign it for you!**"

I heard the kid make a whimpering noise, and I looked down at her. She was sitting on the ground, shaking. She must be so terrified...

I knelt down to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"I-I don't think we have a choice," She stuttered.

"But it's handing over our souls, I don't think that's a good idea," I countered.

"Please, I don't want to die," She begged, and I frowned.

Well, I guess she's right.

I got up, grabbed the quill that appeared, and wrote my 'name' on the contract. I handed it to the kid, and she wrote... something on the contract. It must've been in her alien language or something, because it looked like gibberish to me.

The contract disappeared into thin air, and the demon cackled again.

"**That seals the deal, we're in business! Now, about those souls...**" He grumbled, then loomed over me, grinning malevolently. "**Seeing how you've been so intent on defying me, I'll take yours first!**" He exclaimed, then did some pose.

...

Nothing happened.

I gave him a look of confusion, and he seemed just as confused. There were a few seconds of silence.

"**Where is it?! I can sense it, why can't I find it?!**" He hissed, and I just shrugged my shoulders. He loomed forth so that we were face to face, and he poked me on the forehead, which caused me to fall backward. "**What are you?!**" He asked angrily, and I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe I don't have one. Or, more likely, I already gave it away. I don't remember any of my past, maybe I did something stupid a while ago and sold my soul for something," I muttered, and he made a grumbling noise, then grinned evilly.

"**Well, time for some contract modification!**" He exclaimed, then I felt something coil around my wrists.

I looked down, and saw that my wrists had chains hanging from shackles that were attached to my wrists. I tried yanking one off, but it clamped down a bit tighter.

"**So long as those chains hang from your wrists, you cannot leave!**" He shouted, and I gave him the most irritated look I could come up with.

"Where will I stay?! What will I eat?!" I yelled, but he shushed me.

"**Now it's your turn, kid,**" He said, then loomed down in front of her.

I have no clue what to expect.

Lightning seemed to come down from the sky and... struck her multiple times. She began convulsing, but she didn't make a peep, like she wasn't in any pain. She fell onto her hands and knees as a hazy purple figure flew out of her and into the demon's grasp.

"**Whoops, guess this soul belongs to me now! Don't worry, though! If you finish your chores quickly, you'll have those chains off and your soul returned real soon!**" He explained contently.

I knelt down to the kid, and she looked up at me.

Before, I used to see light in her eyes. Metaphorically, they were the brighter than the sun.

Now, I saw nothing. Void. Emptiness. Nothing but darkness. It was as if what made her... her was sucked out.

Now, I fear no man, but that... thing?

It terrifies me.

I crawled backward and tried putting as much distance between us as possible, and she continued to look at me. Now, she looked confused. I raised a shaky arm and pointed at her, and she got up and walked toward me, stumbling along the way. She fell down beside me, and... smiled.

"Hey... it's still me," She said warmly.

It was still her. Even without her soul, she hadn't truly lost her personality, or her humanity. I calmed down and nodded. The demon cleared his metaphorical throat.

"**And, don't you dare forget our little contract! I've put it in your pocket so it'll never leave your grasp!**" He hissed, then disappeared, returning us back to the path we chased that minion down.

The sun was beginning to set on this forest, causing it to become dark.

I finally remembered another phobia I have.

Nyctophobia: extreme or irrational fear of the night or anything dark.

We should probably find the village, there'll probably be light there.


	22. Chapter 21: Not A Vacation

Chapter 21: Not A Vacation

I got up and began walking down the trail, but didn't see or hear the kid follow. I turned to her and motioned for her to follow.

"We need to get moving," I stated, and she shakily nodded and stood up.

She walked forward, then...

Her legs seemed to fail her and she faceplanted onto the path with a groan.

Having her soul removed really seemed to do a number on her. Not surprising. What to do... Ah, I know.

I picked her up in a fireman's carry and began to walk down the path. I stopped when I saw some weird... cage... made of bones surrounding a new piece of yarn. Atop the cage was some weird skull with an eye that seemed to be looking at two large, purple cherries.

This confused me, and I picked up one of the cherries. It continued to stare at it, until I walked over to a... ghost.

What?!

The ghost seemed to be sucked into the cherry with a zapping noise, and the cherry began glowing neon red and shaking violently. It was now emanating heat like mad, so much so that I chucked it to not burn my hand.

...

When it hit the ground, it exploded.

Some of the minions clapped, and I picked up the other cherry, and looked at the ghost, who was completely unharmed. It flew into this other cherry, and I chucked it.

It exploded, and the cage suddenly disappeared. I grabbed the yarn and gave it to the kid, who weakly took it. She probably needed food.

I continued down the path, until we eventually came to what seemed to be the village. Wasn't much of a village, though. The 'houses' were oversized tree stumps with doors. A blotch of purple appeared beneath us, and the demon popped out of the ground.

"_**WHY, HELLO THERE! **_**You didn't forget about me, did ya? Don't tell me you forgot about me!**" He greeted, and I stared him in the eye with a blank expression.

"It'd be impossible to forget someone like _you,_" I grumbled, which oddly seemed to please him.

"**What's up? You working on any contractual obligations lately? **_**You'd better be! **_**Remember our little deal!**" He hissed.

"Yes, yes, we're getting to it, calm down," I muttered, and he loomed down before pointing to a campfire surrounded by what seemed to be foxes... made of fire. Must be the fire spirits.

"**Check it out! Those incredibly annoying Fire Spirits are sitting right there, in the middle of **_**my**_** village,**" He grumbled, "**Their little dance is creating these **_**INCREDIBLY **_**annoying barriers that stop me from getting to parts of my forest. It's almost like they're trying to put an end to me... **_**how adorable.**_"

A grim prospect.

"**Dispose of them! I don't care how you do it, so long as they suffer for entering my domain!**" He ordered, then cackled sadistically. But they're spirits?

"But how does one 'murder a spirit'?" I asked.

"**You're the exterminator, that's your job to find out!**" He taunted, "**Anyway, Snatcher here is too busy to explain to incompetent minions how to do a simple task like this, so back to work, troopers! This isn't a vacation, and I'm getting impatient!**"

So his name is Snatcher. How fitting.

He disappeared, and I frowned.

I heard the kid sigh, and I set her down.

"You feeling strong enough to walk?" I asked, and she nodded slowly. I helped her to her feet and watched her get up and walk, ready to catch her if she fell, but she was back to walking, and after a minute, she ran over to the Fire Spirits.

"We want to die! Yay!" One of them chanted. That sent shivers down my spine.

"We want to burn bright, and then burn out! Become a cloud of smoke!" Another said.

"Our bonfire needs more fuel, only the finest paintings shall do!" Yet another one sang.

"Can you help us?" A fourth asked.

Suddenly, a masculine scream pierced the air before disappearing just as suddenly. I turned to where the shout came from, and saw a panicked Mafia Goon trapped inside a painting. The painting looked 3 dimensional, as if it were a portal to some other dimension.

I picked up the painting, and walked over to the fire. What was this about? It slipped from my grasp and fell into the fire, causing said fire to burn brighter, and the painting to turn into a cloud of dark smoke.

"More, more!" The first spirit shouted, and the kid ran off, coming back with a couple of painting, then tossed them both into the fire. She ran off again, and came back in a minute with a painting that seemed to have bits of ice on it.

Why would anyone freeze a painting? She tossed it into the fire anyway.

"Thank you!" They all chanted, before the fire erupted into a pillar of dark flame, consuming all four of them.

"Become one with the fire!" The kid shouted, then the fire vanished, and she giggled.

"Since when did you like fire so much?" I asked her, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Actually, I dunno. I didn't even mean to say that, it just... came out," She muttered, then I saw a purple shroud appear beneath us yet again.

Snatcher popped out of the ground and grinned evilly.

"_**WELL DONE! **_**Please tell me they suffered. You murdered them, right? I bet you strangled them,**" He muttered, and the kid nodded very rapidly. I could tell just by how she acted that she was absolutely terrified of him. "**Good girl!**" He shouted while patting her head.

I dunno why, but that _really _pissed me off.

He cackled evilly.

"**Don't think I'm done with you yet, though. There's more of these pests around my forest, and I need you two to take care of every single one,**" He ordered, "**Next on your to-do list, clean up the Subcon Well. That's right, you're plumbers now! Congratulations on your promotions!**"

Is that really a promotion?

"**I also have some... other... work for you that I cannot do myself, and hey, as long as I need the two of you, you both get to stay alive! What a deal, huh?**" He muttered, then snapped his fingers, causing two contracts to appear.

Oh, wonderful. Not.

"**But, enough talk! You both look like you can handle multiple things on your plates at once! Let's get you an additional contract!**" He shouted, "**Pick one, but only one! Isn't it thrilling to sign your life away?!**"

Either explore some sketchy manor or deliver mail.

You can guess which one we'd be choosing.

We put our names on the mail delivery contract, and they both disappeared.

"**Good choice! Let's hope you're both up for the task!**" He exclaimed, then grinned even more. "**You're looking for Time Pieces, right?**" He asked.

He knew?!

And he even knew their name?! How?!

We both nodded as rapidly as we could, and he grinned more.

"**I found one of them while haunting some poor soul. You can keep it, but this is the only time I'll reward you for completing parts of a contract. Because, guess what? I'm not legally obligated to!**" He taunted, then cackled before leaving. A Time Piece flew out of the ground and into the kid's grasp.

Well, at least there's that.

She smiled and held up the Time Piece to the sky, and I grabbed her wrist.

Something odd happened.

The chains on my wrist wrapped around my arm, then dragged my arm to the ground, then released. Oh, yeah, I'm stuck here.

"Crap," I grumbled, "Well, you go back to the ship, you don't look so good. I'll be fine."

She frowned, sighed, then held the Time Piece back up toward the sky.

...

Nothing happened.

She seemed to get frustrated and began shaking it, obviously trying to get it to work, but it didn't.

I felt a presence again.

"With her soul gone, she cannot use them for any purpose," A familiar voice said, then I felt the presence disappear again.

"You can't leave. Your lack of a soul is preventing you from leaving," I explained, and she frowned.

"Well, I guess now you won't be alone," She said sadly.

A feral howl pierced the night sky, and the kid gasped. I knelt down to her and picked her up.

"Come on, kiddo, let's get some shelter," I suggested, and she nodded.

Hopefully these other minions would be more... friendly.


	23. Chapter 22: All's well that ends well

Chapter 22: All's well that ends well

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know. I said I'd begin to write consistently again. Well, look. I've somewhat lost interest in this story, as I'm planning work on a story for another game. My... other story (the one for Don't Starve)... will be completely discontinued, I will remove it from the website. Other than that, I am planning on dividing my attention between this story and the story I am planning. I'm sorry that I didn't upload for two days again, but I'm human. Humans can be unpredictable.**

I chatted with some minions, who told me a few things, like how the ghosts were called Dwellers, the forest was called Subcon Forest (which I had assumed, but confirmation was needed), and that the forest could get quite dangerous at night, especially in the deeper parts of the woods.

We managed to find some shelter under a tree, and soon after, the kid fell asleep. She must be so tired. I decided that I'll stay up and keep watch that nothing comes out and attacks.

After some amount of time, she woke up. Today, we need to clean that stupid well, wherever it is. We found Snatcher reading some book under the stupidly tall tree.

"So, where's this well?" I asked.

"**What's that? You don't know where to go? You're supposed to be cleaning the well. It's deep inside the swamp, but it's so big that not even a tiny thing like her could miss it,**" He grumbled, "**Oh, and, make sure not to hit your head at the bottom!**"

Ugh.

I walked over to the strange purple swamp, and dropped a rock in. To be frank, something seemed wrong with this swamp. It gave me an extremely bad feeling.

I heard crackling, and saw some fire spirits dancing around a blue fire. The kid seemed to have already put a painting in, and was holding another. She tossed it in, and the spirits vanished in a pillar of fire.

She hopped over to me, and a minion cleared his throat.

"I've got a real _sinking _feeling about this swamp, get it?" He joked, and I frowned.

"Something tells me we should try not to touch the swamp mud," I grumbled, and she nodded.

"You don't say?" She muttered.

"I do say," I responded.

So, we began hopping from wooden platform to wooden platform, being as careful as possible not to sink into the swamp. Some other minions said something about dimensional bells, but I shrugged it off. As if we were going to see magic bells, too.

I stopped. I could see the stupidly large well up ahead, but the gap between the platform we were on and the platform beneath the well was far too large to get across in a single jump. At least, not without touching the swamp.

"Ok... who goes first?" I asked, and the kid shrugged her shoulders before suddenly bolting and jumping across.

She did her 'double jump' thing and dove, but she still didn't get far enough, and I saw her dive into the swamp. She began sinking immediately, and she started to trek over to the platform.

Wait a minute...

All of a sudden, muddy arms stretched out of the swamp and began circling around her in a menacing way.

"Move it!" I barked, and she climbed up onto the platform. The arms fell down.

"What was that?!" She shouted.

"I have no idea!" I yelled. My turn to jump over.

"Come on, we don't have all day!" She hissed.

"Time to put that new sweater to the test," I muttered.

I took a running pose, took a deep breath, and ran for the edge of the platform. Suddenly, it was as if the parkour knowledge and experience was in my mind, and I was able to somehow flip in the air to get more air time, and dove over to the platform.

When I landed on the platform, I outstretched my arms and pushed myself forward into a roll. However, that led into me faceplanting into the well at high speed.

I fell back.

My nose hurt... bad.

I quickly checked to make sure it wasn't broken. The kid ran over to me, and she had a look of pure excitement and joy on her face.

"That was crazy!" She squealed.

"No kidding," I grumbled.

I got up and looked around. There were some trees around us with large, green leaves. They were transparent. We could probably use them to climb up to the well.

But why were they transparent?

I brushed my hand through the leaves, and my hand just... phased through them like they weren't even there.

The kid whistled, and I turned to her. She was standing next to a floating green bell with a small green aura around it.

Oh.

So those minions were telling the truth.

She whacked the bell, and the green aura expanded until it was, like, 15 times as big, and began to shrink.

I turned back to the leaves, and sure enough, they were no longer transparent. I began to climb them up to the well, and got there with ease. This ability the kid had given me was no joke.

She climbed up a few seconds later.

"Who jumps first?" I asked.

"Me. I have an umbrella to slow my fall," She said, "I'll tell you if it's safe to jump after."

She jumped down into the well, and I heard a distant splashing noise later.

"Jump!" She echoed throughout the well. I sighed, closed my eyes, and stepped forward.

A 20 second fall later, and I splashed into some water.

Words could not describe how low the water temperature was, so I quickly got out before my body could go into shock.

She motioned for me to follow her into a room, and I did so. There was a chest inside of a large ice block, but I saw a cherry bomb on the ground and a Dweller.

...

Wait...

Cherry bomb.

And, now that I think of it...

That was a _murder _of crows on the train while we were recording that movie with Conductor.

It's as if this entire world is a pecking pun.

I shook my head. Getting sidetracked. I picked up the cherry bomb, brought it over to the Dweller, then threw it at the ice block.

The ice block was completely annihilated, and the kid opened the chest. I heard her release a confused 'Huh?' and walked over.

The chest was empty.

"Great," I muttered, then walked over to the door. Bars were raised, trapping us. "You've got to be kidding me!" I hissed.

"Up there!" The kid shouted, and I turned to see her pointing at something. I looked over, and saw that she was pointing at a button. There were some lanterns, and they seemed to have hooks on them.

I pointed my baton at the first lantern, but the kid was already going, and she pressed the button seconds later, lowering the bars.

We went back out into the first room before we could be trapped again, and walked inside of what seemed to be the main chamber of the cavern.

There was a pipe in the center of the room, and it was corked. Judging by the small amount of water trickling out of the pipe, that's where the blockage was. The cork was attached via pulley to a hook, which I hooked onto.

The cork popped out, and water began flooding into the room. The kid jumped up, using the jet of water as a boost, and I followed her. I could barely keep up with her as she began running around, pressing buttons to lower ladders, climbing said ladders, and jumping from platform to platform.

After swinging across 3 lanterns, we made it up to the top of the chamber, and saw that our only exit was blocked by a wall of ice. There were three cherries and a Dweller, so I picked up a cherry, bolted over to the Dweller, and tossed it at the wall of ice.

A few seconds later, the entire cave system began to rumble, and I nearly lost my footing. Suddenly, a huge blast of water shot out of the cave, and it took us with it.

I felt something collide with my head, and I completely conked out.


	24. Chapter 23: Business Endeavours

Chapter 23: Business Endeavours

**A/N: How long has it been since I've uploaded a chapter to this story? Heh, sorry about that. I sort of lost interest and gained interest in another game, so much so that I wanted to take a break from this. Sorry. It'll probably be another while before I upload another chapter, but I didn't wanna just leave it.**

I don't know how long I was out for. I woke up when I realized I was being shaked. I opened my eyes groggily and looked around. The kid was shaking me with a worried expression, and she sighed.

"Oh... hey, kid," I muttered, "How long was I out?"

"Not long, but..." She answered, "You really worried me."

"Uh, sorry about that," I apologized, "Did you find any Time Pieces?"

"One flew out of the well," She stated.

"Good," I mumbled.

After a few minutes, I felt good enough to get up and did so.

"We should go talk to Snatcher," I suggested, and she nodded. So, we began trodding back along the path, and I was barely able to suppress a laugh at what I saw.

Snatcher was waiting for us along the path with a dopey grin and wearing a large mailman hat.

"_**GOOD MORNING!**_" He shouted, "**Are you ready to complete your contractual obligations?!**"

Something seemed different. He seemed oddly... happy. Like, actually joyful, instead of his typical evil, sadistic demeanor.

"**I'm not heartless! Every so often I sneak into mailboxes and steal letters, then deliver them to my minions! That way it's almost like someone cares about them!**" He explained.

Okay, but if he didn't care, why is he interested in making sure they feel cared for?

"**But our last mailman has gone... **_**poof!**_** You'll have to do!**" He exclaimed, "**I've got a gift for the occasion, although requires a special kind of hat to use. I hope you've got it!**"

He then cackled, and a gift box appeared in front of the kid. She opened the box, and held out what seemed to be a scooter badge. The kid would probably have to do it herself, as I don't have _any _hats.

"**This badge is only a rental, I need it back before you're done! Remember to put it on your Sprint Hat, or it does absolutely nothing!**" Snatcher stated, "**All of the minions who are awaiting mail will have an icon floating above them. Come back when you're done and clock out. Get it?**"

Uh...

I don't.

She didn't seem to, either.

She put the badge on and jumped on a purple wooden scooter with a yellow face painted on it, then zoomed off.

"I'll be back soon!" She said.

"I don't like the idea of her going off alone in this place," I grumbled, "Hell, I wouldn't want to be alone here."

"**Oh, lighten up! She'll be fine! Unless she goes... where she's not supposed to, nothing will come out and attack her! This part of the forest is safe. My domain. If anything came here and interfered with my contractors' work, well... you can guess the rest,**" The demon grumbled.

"Yeah, but still. She doesn't even have _a soul, _thanks to you. How do you know that nothing will, like, possess her? How do you know she won't, like, absorb magic because she doesn't have a soul and turn into some abomination? How do you know?" I hissed.

"**Kid, I've been here for centuries. It hasn't happened before, it won't happen now. Now, I'd suggest you watch what you say before you make me do something inconvenient,**" He hissed.

The kid came back about 15 minutes later and hopped off the scooter, which disappeared. She took off the badge and tossed it to Snatcher, and it disappeared mid-air.

A Time Piece flew out of the ground and into her hands.

"**Now do you get what I meant by clock out?**" Snatcher asked, and we both nodded.

"So, that was our last contract," I stated, "Are we free to go?"

"**You think I'm going to let you go that easily? Nonsense! It's a good thing you mentioned...**" He said, then disappeared.

"Ugh. Well, I guess let's explore until we find something," I suggested, and she nodded.

We explored an area of the forest we couldn't before, and I saw vines shoot up around us.

Oh, brother.

The area around us was shrouded in void.

"_**AHAHAHAHAHA! FOOOOOooooo-**_**oh wait, it's you?**" Snatcher grumbled, "**I was kind of expecting a new victim to step in my trap. I've already taken your soul and your liberty. Have you even completed your contractual obligations yet?!**"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"**Well, seeing how you **_**did**_** step in my trap, I might as well extend our business endeavours!**" He exclaimed, "_**FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLS! You've stepped into my fooorest, and now you must pay the priiiiiiiice!**_"

As if the mailman hat wasn't hilarious enough.

That stereotypical ghost voice was too much.

I began laughing so hard tears began streaming down my eyes and I fell to my knees. The kid was also giggling like mad.

Two contracts appeared from thin air.

"**Pick your poison! Which burden do you want to carry for the rest of your life?!**" He asked menacingly.

We both read the contracts. Either fight some weird possessed outhouse, or explore that sketchy manor.

Exploring the manor obviously seemed the better choice.

It's just a house.

How bad can exploring some weird house be?

...

Right?

I put my name on the contract, and so did the kid. The contracts disappeared.

"**Not a bad choice! You're leaving all the difficult ones for the newbies though, which is... really rude when you think of it.**" He grumbled, "**Whatever, I'm off! Smell ya later!**"

The void disappeared, and Snatcher disappeared into the ground.

What a weird shadow demon.

Wait a minute...

I think I remember... playing a game about a haunted mansion. I don't remember what it was called.

This mansion is gonna be haunted, or inhabited by a demon too, isn't it?

Well, only one way to find out.

"Let's get going, kiddo. We got a job to do," I grumbled, and then picked her up.

Let's just hope this isn't too bad.


	25. Chapter 24: Sub-Zero

Chapter 24: Sub-Zero

**A/N: **_**I'MM BAAAAAAAAAAACK! **_**I finished writing the other story so I decided to return to this. I'll be writing another story for the same game, but this time I promise I won't completely neglect and abandon this story. This has been my most popular story, ever. By a **_**LONG **_**shot. I won't abandon this again.**

So, I strolled casually down the path to a broken bridge above a large chasm. There were warning signs everywhere showing some dark beast with blood red eyes.

Uh...

That's not good.

I don't know if it would be better if the beast was in the manor or the general area ahead. Probably the latter, actually.

I set the kid down, and we both jump and dove over the chasm, landing on the other side. This entire area was covered in snow and ice, and looming to the right was a frozen, abandoned village.

Eery.

I tugged the hood over my head more, and we began walking ahead, but more vines shot out of the ground.

Oh, brother.

Snatcher appeared once again, cackling yet again.

"_**FOOOOOOOOOOOOooo**_**ooo...**" He shouted, "**Wait, it's you two? Again?!**"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"**I thought I told you to steer clear of my traps,**" He grumbled.

"Easier said than done," I countered.

"**Well, either way, you did step in my trap again, so I might as well extend our business endeavours again,**" He muttered, "**Blah blah blah, you stepped in my forest, now you'll pay the price, whatever.**"

Uh...

A lone contract appeared.

"**This is the only contract I have left. Finish these and I'll give you back your soul and both of you back your freedom,**" He stated.

Something seemed sketchy about this... eh, whatever.

We both signed the contract.

"**Okay, this one should be child's play!**" He shouted, "**That was a joke. Anyway, I'm off. Smell you later!**"

He disappeared and we continued trudging through the snow.

I stopped.

I heard intense shivering.

I turned around to the kid, who was almost halfway sunk into the snow.

She also had no winter clothing..

I picked her up and held her closely so she could warm up, then walked over to a large purple wall and a bell.

"The Manor is this way!" A minion shouted.

The wall looked like a purple version of those dimensional walls and platforms we've been seeing.

I wonder...

I hit the bell with my baton, and the aura made the wall disappear. I walked through it, and looked ahead. A large wall of ice ahead, impossible to jump over, but there were two green platforms and a purple one to jump on.

I heard sloshing, and the kid chucked a potion at the bell. The aura expanded, and I hopped from the ground to the first platform, jumped over to the second one, but the third one was nonexistant now.

I waited for the aura to shrink enough, then jumped on the platform and dove over the ice wall.

Booyah.

Off in the distance was a destructible ice wall, and a dweller on a platform in the air. I looked around and saw a cherry bomb next to me, which I promptly picked up.

I hopped from platform to platform, activated the cherry bomb, and threw it at the wall. Ahead, most if not all of the platforms were green and nonexistant, but there were a couple of bells.

The kid chucked a potion at the first one, and I hopped onto a 'tree trunk', then quickly jumped from platform to platform up to the second bell, which I whacked.

I then jumped onto another platform, then another, then landed next to a cherry bomb and a Dweller. I picked up the cherry, activated it, and chucked it at a wall, annihilating it as well. I jumped down and ran ahead, getting a shiver down my spine, and not just from the cold.

It was seriously cold out, though. Temperature must be sub-zero, far below freezing.

Looming off in the distance, shrouded by darkness, a very ominous manor laid, with light radiating out of every window. I sprinted up to the manor, and saw snow blocking the front doors.

I yanked on the doorknobs, but the doors wouldn't budge.

The kid screamed.

I turned around, and a headless ice statue was running toward us.

Holy hell!

I ran as fast as I could to the other side of the manor, and it gave up the chase.

Ahead of us, a cellar door opened on its own and released an ominous noise, seemingly beckoning us forth.

I grabbed my baton and slowly ventured down into the manor.

The entire cellar was frozen and flooded.

Oh, joy, now my shoes, socks, and feet were gonna be freezing and soaked forever.

I groaned and shook the thought away, and through a wooden lattice I spotted a key. There were also barrels and bottles of what I guessed to be alcohol dotted about. I walked around to the side and saw a door into the other part of the cellar, and went through. I ran up to and grabbed the key, and walked out.

A locked set of double doors was there, I hadn't noticed it before. I walked up to it and unlocked it. The kid jumped down.

I had an extremely bad feeling about this.

"Kid," I whispered, "Be very, very quiet, and stay close to me. As... scary as the idea is, I don't think we're alone in this manor."

She seemed to be just as unnerved, and nodded. We slowly crept up the stairs and out into the foyer.

I crept forward, but I guess the flooring must've been pretty bad. Why?

A floorboard creaked loudly from under my foot.

I froze.

"_**WHO'S THERE?! WHO DARES ENTER MY HOME?!**_"

The entire house seemed to be shrouded in darkness, and something screamed at me to run and hide.

The kid screamed.

A dark... thing with blood-red eyes came out of a door and glared at us.

"_**WHAT THE F- IS THAT?!**_" I shrieked. It stepped toward us, and I grabbed the kid and ran into another room. I slid underneath a piano, and the kid held close to me, whimpering.

I patted her back.

"Shhh, it's okay," I whispered.

"How is this okay?!" She hissed.

"She didn't follow us in here," I whispered back, "All we need to do is be quiet and we'll be fine. Even if we do make a ruckus, we can hide like we're doing now. Okay?"

She sighed and nodded. We crawled out from underneath the piano, and I looked around. We were in a study that was connected to a kitchen. Out of curiosity, I crept over to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

An odd-looking key was inside that was shaped like a treble clef. I crept back to the kid, and saw a keyhole in the piano.

Ah, I see.

I put the key in, and the top of the piano opened.

"I wonder," The kid whispered, then quietly climbed on top of the piano.

This seemed like a bad idea.

The top of the piano fell under her weight, smacking back into the piano with a loud clacking noise.

"**Let's play hide and seek! You hide, I seek.**"

I grabbed the kid from on top of the piano and crawled underneath. I felt the shroud of... insanity shroud the room as the... thing entered and began looking around.

Oh for the love of everything, please don't check the piano...

It didn't, and it left the room. The shroud lifted again, and we crawled out from underneath the piano yet again. I looked around, and saw that a book had shifted and was about to fall over, and it had a key in it as a bookmark.

I quietly told the kid this, and for some ungodly reason she stepped on the piano again.

This time, the whole piano came crashing to the ground with a ruckus, along with the book.

"**Come on out, we can have some tea!**"

I grabbed the kid, the key, waited for the shroud to pass over the room, and bolted out into the hallway and into the room where the thing originally emerged from.

I looked around, saw a locked set of double doors, and ran over to it. I stuck the key in, the lock broke, and I ran up the stairs.

Hopefully it wouldn't follow.

I heard loud footsteps from behind us, and I quickly ran into a room.

It was the master bedroom, and I saw a key above the master bed.

But it was too high up, and causing another ruckus seemed to be a stupid idea. There was nothing in the room we could use that would be quiet.

So we crept through another door into what seemed to be a very eery looking nursery.

In the center was a train set, and off to the side I saw a self-rocking rocking horse.

That really creeped me out.

The kid tiptoed away, and I saw her grab a balloon from a gift box, and then she crept back into the master bedroom. I followed her, wondering what she was doing.

She let go of the balloon underneath the key and it flew up, causing the key to rotate.

We'd need a few more to knock it off.

A noise like a teapot going off filled the room, and I looked in horror as the balloon flew over a candle and popped.

"**Ready or not, here I come!**"

I grabbed the kid and ran back into the nursery, then army crawled underneath a crib. After half a minute, I crawled out from underneath, ran over to the door, and peeked inside. It was clear.

I saw the kid grab another balloon, and we crept back inside. I noticed some notes placed about the place and grabbed and read them all, then showed them to the kid.

Talk about melodramatic.

The... thing was a 'woman', a queen named Vanessa who was likely mentally unstable and obsessed with her prince, going to the point of banning bacon because he 'loved it more than her' and going nuts when he went away for tutoring under another woman.

Geez.

The kid let go of the balloon underneath the key once again, and it very nearly knocked it off.

"Are you kidding me?!" I hissed.

Perhaps that was a bit too loud.

"**Come out, come out, wherever you are!**"

I grabbed the kid and ran into the nursery again, hiding underneath the crib again.

A loud crash was heard, and a masculine screech.

Wait, was that a Mafia dude?

After all was quiet, I got up and peeked through the door yet again. A wardrobe was toppled over, and an ice statue of a Mafia Goon was trapped underneath it.

Wait...

Oh.

That's why everything in this place is frozen. This insane demon-witch lady has ice magic.

So, if she catches either of us...

We're gonna be nothing but frozen effigies to decorate her home.

Wait.

Queen Vanessa was walking out the door, and... the key was trailing behind her.

Well, shit.

I crept through the door and out into the hallway, seeing she wasn't there.

I saw smoke coming from underneath a door and slipped inside.

Oh, no.

She was having a shower, and the key was on the toilet.

I crept forward, but a bolt of lightning struck, and I crawled backward before she could see me.

I army crawled through the bathroom and grabbed the key.

Another bolt of lightning struck, and I looked in horror to see the Queen look out to grab a towel.

She stared right at me, and I stared right at her.

"Uh, hi?" I said nervously.

She screamed an insane screech. I bolted right out of the bathroom, grabbed the kid, saw a locked door, ran over to it, unlocked it, and ran up a flight of stairs, locking the doors behind me.

We were in the attic now, and there were some mirrors that we could probably jump through to get out.

At the end of the room, a chest lay.

I walked up to the chest and opened it, getting a Time Piece.

So, we found what was in the attic. Contract completed.

I gave it to the kid, and looked out the window. That was a looooooooong drop. Easily three story, we'd definitely break something, and we could land on an ice crystal and impale ourselves.

So... what do we do?

I walked up to the kid and shrugged my shoulders.

Something phazed through the door and stared at us with red eyes.

"**Did you really think a lock would keep **_**me **_**out?**"

_**WHAT?!**_

I stepped back in shock.

"**You were foolish to enter my home. Now that foolishness must be punished.**"

She ran toward us with a screech, and I shut my eyes.

A strange noise was heard, and I felt a presence. Nothing was happening to me.e

I opened my eyes and looked around to see a shield enveloping us. I felt a hand grab me by the hood.

Everything went black.


	26. Chapter 25: Interdimensional

Chapter 25: Interdimensional

When the darkness cleared, we were outside the manor. I still felt a presence, and saw a shadow looming over me.

I turned around and froze at what I saw.

A man, probably around the same age as me, in dark robes with a dark aura that almost looked kind of glitchy around him, with grey eyes and pale skin, floating in the air.

I'd never met this man in my life, yet I knew that aura of being watched well.

He stared at me for a few seconds with a menacing frown.

"I'm not going to have twenty years of you growing up be wasted stupidly like this," He hissed.

Hold up...

"I did warn you that there was a beast here," He grumbled.

"Wait, _**WHAT?**_" I shouted, and he disappeared in a black-grey vortex.

I looked around, and the kid was stood up, looking around as well.

"L-let's just get out of here," I muttered, and she nodded.

We ran as fast as we possibly could back to the main section of the forest.

"Now..." She said, and I could tell she was mad.

She looked up at me in a very irritated gesture.

"You're going to tell me exactly what that was about, or I'm going to get very, _very _angry," She threatened.

I frowned.

"What is there to say?" I asked, "I have no idea what that is about. All I can assume is that that guy is the mysterious voice that talked to me earlier, from that aura of being watched I feel often. You know, the one that gave me those hookshot badges."

She raised an eyebrow.

"So what was he saying about watching you for twenty years?" She asked angrily.

"I'm just as clueless as you are!" I shouted, and she shook her head. "Maybe that... guy, thing, whatever it is, used to watch over me when I was little? I can only guess, with my fractured memory. I'll try to remember whatever I can, but..."

I put every bit of my consciousness into trying my damnedest to remember something.

I began to get something.

I tried even harder, and eventually it was revealed.

_Here I was, sitting at a computer. I was playing... some video game on it, and from what I was saying I could tell I was struggling on a level. After some time, I beat it. I shook my head, and began to wonder about other options for my life instead of aimlessly playing some video game. I went to bed. After a couple of minutes, I sat up and looked around._

_I felt like I was being watched._

_I could tell from the thoughts that were running through my mind that this was a common occurence, but that this time it felt more realistic. Like I needed to check wherever I was living that there wasn't an intruder. I did so, and found nothing. I returned to my bedroom, and saw something that definitely shouldn't have been there out of the corner of my eye._

_I turned to face it, and found nothing. I decided that I was merely imagining things and returned to bed, where I heard a very strange jingle and knew for a fact that it was real._

_I muttered something about my apartment being haunted, and almost as if on cue, my television turned itself on. I got up, became irritated, and ran over to it and tried shutting it off, but it wouldn't respond._

_I became extremely annoyed and unplugged it, but it still didn't shut off for a few seconds._

_Now I really knew something was up, and I decided that I would try to find some paranormal or supernatural expert or experts to come in and poke around. I turned around and walked over to my bed, until a very weird, almost glitchy noise boomed through the apartment._

_I turned back to my TV, and a vortex made entirely of static was in front of it, and it began to pull me in. I tried desperately to avoid it, and grabbed onto my bed post, but it snapped off, and I was sucked into the portal, screaming like a girl._

_I blacked out, and some time later I awoke with a migraine in a large, dark room without my memories._

I snapped out of the memory with a gasp.

Looking back on these memories, that strange out-of-place 'object' I saw out of the corner of my eye looked mighty similar to that glitchy dude that just saved our rears.

Now I _really _had some thinking to do.

I sat down and put my hand to my chin. The kid walked up to me with a questioning look.

"What did you remember?" She asked.

"How I got here," I answered, and her eyes widened.

"So, how _did _you get here?" She asked.

"Well, I don't belong here. I _think..._ I'm from an alternate dimension," I stated.

Her eyes widened more.

"But, how did you get here, though?" She asked.

So, I told her what I remembered, and told her that the strange object I saw in the corner of my eye seemed to look similar to that guy that saved us.

"That's... interesting," She said, "Why do you think he was there?"

"Well, he looked kinda, well, glitchy. The portal that took me here was made of static. I think he may have brought me here, but I'm not sure," I answered.

"_**HELLO!**_"

"_**HOLY HELL!**_" I yelled as Snatcher popped out of the ground, laughing his metaphorical ass off.

"Dammit, Snatcher!" I grumbled.

"**Woah, hey, that's uncalled for! I was just saying hello!**" He stated nonchalantly.

"And scared the life out of both me and the kid," I muttered.

"**Well, it's your fault for sitting around! That contract isn't gonna complete itself! So, get to it!**" He shouted.

"Fine," I grumbled, and we began walking toward the village.

I still don't think this will end well.

Why would Snatcher give the kid her soul back? No, no, honestly. He's a soul-eating demon. Like, yeah, he gets free work from us, that's a win for him, but we're taking stuff from his forest and we trespassed on his property. Also, he's still a soul-eating demon.

But then again, he seemed genuinely happy and, to be frank, kind in the mail delivery. With that mailman hat on, giving the kid a badge, even giving her a Time Piece?

Also, he doesn't really act like a soul-eating demon. He acts more, well, lax. While most soul-stealing demons act insane, angry, sadistic, and that kind of thing, Snatcher...

Eh...

Well, he gives new meaning to the term 'chillin' like a villain'.

Anyway, I still don't trust him (why would I), but who knows?

We'll just have to smash this outhouse and see what happens.


	27. Chapter 26: Odd Possession

Chapter 26: Odd Possession

**A/N: So, as many of you know, I'm writing two stories at once. If I'm lucky and I'm able to get another video game on this website, that'll be three. Combine that with final exams being right around the corner and you may not see much content for a little while.**

Unsure of where to go, I decided that going to the village would be a good idea. I began walking down the path to the village, and the kid followed me.

When we got there, something strange happened.

Pipes began to shoot from the ground and erupt purple-yellow flames. It was so chaotic that even the Dwellers were panicking.

We needed to find this outhouse fast.

"Where do we even go?!" I shouted.

"Go to the other side of the village and cross a chasm!" A minion yelled, and we both ran towards the other side of the village.

Just as he said, a big chasm. There were hookshot clamps to swing off of.

I went first and swung over the chasm with ease, and so did the kid. Ahead was a circular arena with a very shallow pool of green acid in the center.

In that pool laid an outhouse with a hole in the shape of a heart in its door. I could tell instantly that it was possessed.

It roared, opening its door like a mouth, which revealed a weird jumble of green pipes in its center, and began to twist around.

It disappeared into the ground and appeared at the opposite side of us, then began to spit out green acid bubbles. The kid ran up to it and whacked it, but it did nothing.

One of the bubbles had an activated cherry bomb in it.

The bubble popped, so I picked up the cherry by the stem and chucked it at the outhouse.

I just don't get why a demon would possess a toilet of all things.

Surely there could be something better to possess, like a statue or something.

Anyway, it howled in pain and disappeared, then reappeared in another spot and hopped around, releasing shockwaves as it landed and jumped to the center.

That jumble of pipes seemed like a weak point.

I looked up and saw a hookshot clamp above the pool.

A noise like a train horn sounded through the arena, and cages began to swing down.

I shot the hookshot out onto the clamp and kicked the... thing right where it hurt on the way down.

I swung off, did an elegant flip, landed, and turned around. It disappeared again and tried spitting out more bubbles. Yet again, one had a cherry bomb in it.

The kid picked up the cherry when the bubble popped and threw it at the toilet.

A noise that sounded like applause or cheer boomed through the arena.

It was just then I realized that basically every single minion had turned up to watch the show.

The thing disappeared and reappeared elsewhere, then opened its door and twisted around again.

Off in the distance, a projectile shot into the sky whilst making a firework noise.

It must've been getting pretty annoyed.

It hopped into the center, causing three bubbles to rise into the air in a circle, two of them were water and one was acid, and one of the clean bubbles had a cherry in it.

The toilet began to jump and release shockwaves, which I began to hop over.

The kid swung onto the clamp and collided with a bubble, and she picked up the cherry bomb inside. She chucked it at the boss as it fell.

I must've been standing a bit close to the outhouse, because that blast definitely hit me.

And hit me it did.

It sent me flying to the other side of the arena as I yelled.

I tumbled around and got up.

The world seemed to be revolving.

I faintly saw her run up to me and ask me if I was okay.

I groggily replied with a simple: "It's gonna take more than a cherry to kill me."

I got up, the world slowly stopped spinning, and I saw that there were even more bubbles in the air. Yet again, one had a cherry in it. I was about to try and grab the cherry but the kid was already doing it.

She grabbed it effortlessly and chucked it at the boss.

It disappeared and reappeared in its favourite spot, and more 'fireworks' went off in the distance.

It jumped to the center of the arena, and three cages lowered from the ceiling. Each had a Dweller inside.

What is it doing?...

It pulled out a cherry and tossed it into the air.

Ok, that makes sense.

Each of the Dwellers went inside the cherry, which activated it and made it much larger.

I jumped onto one of the cages, already knowing what it was doing.

It hopped into the air and returned later on top of a stupidly large bomb that looked more like a pumpkin. It even had giant sticks of dynamite strapped to the side. I jumped onto the bomb as well and whacked the boss with my baton in the pipes.

The bomb disappeared with a puff of smoke that knocked me back with a grunt.

It warped to the other side of the arena and began to jump around again. This time, it seemed like it was coming right for me.

Simple enough.

I jumped whenever it landed to avoid my feet getting swept under me until it landed on its side with its door wide opened. I whacked it again.

It warped to the other side of the arena and opened its door, and a train horn blared once again. The kid ran over to it and whacked it.

It went to the center yet again, and more cages appeared yet again.

I climbed on top of the highest cage, waited, and when it came down, I dropkicked it in the pipes before it could even tell what was happening.

I got knocked back for a third frickin' time, and it began to jump toward the kid.

She dodged its attacks easily and screamed a war cry.

She whacked it seemingly as hard as she could right in the pipes, and it crumbled into a pile of splinters and metal shards.

A Time Piece flew out of the scrap pile.

I had to cover my ears as a deafening roar of cheer boomed through the arena.

"So, that's the last contract done, right?" I asked, and she nodded.

"We'll have to find Snatcher and tell him," She stated.

Yeah, something seemed not right about this.

I don't see why he'd let us go. Honestly.

I heard murmuring among the minions, then a contemptuous chuckle.

"Let's go," I grumbled, and we walked towards the entrance of the arena.

"**Wait up, **_**KID.**_"

I clenched my fists.

I knew exactly what was coming.


	28. Chapter 27: Worst Nightmare

Chapter 27: Worst Nightmare

**A/N: Sorry I was gone for awhile. Did some things. Was busy. Yada yada yada. I finally completed the Seal The Deal Contract in Death Wish after 33 deaths.**

"What do you want?" I hissed, "I certainly hope it's to give the kid her soul back and restore my freedom."

Silence.

We both turned around and faced the shadow demon, who was grinning even more menacingly than usual.

"**Not quite. Remember how the old contractor had his head pop off?**" He asked evilly.

I nodded slowly. I knew where this was going, but playing dumb was likely a better option.

"What about it?" I asked, uninterested.

"**That... wasn't a coincidence. It... popped off the moment he stopped being useful to me,**" He muttered.

"And?" I grumbled.

"**And guess who else just became obsolete?**" He said irritably.

I frowned deeply, and I heard the kid gasp.

"**That's right: **_**you. **_**Now that that possessed outhouse isn't bothering me anymore, and all of those contracts of yours are tidied away... I don't need you two punks around,**" He stated.

"Wait, I don't get it. Then why don't you just let us leave? I mean, we've done our end of the deal. It's still a win-win situation for you. Besides, we could come back later and help out if you don't find another contractor," The kid countered nervously.

He shook his head.

"**Let me finish, kiddo. Besides, you didn't think I was gonna let you keep all those Time Pieces, did you?**" He asked malevolently.

"Yeah, cause on the contract it said we could keep anything we found on the way. You _**literally **_gave two of them to us. Why would you do that if you wanted them back?" I grumbled.

"**Ah, yes, but you didn't read the fine print. It says 'With exception of Time Pieces, which must be handed back before you leave'. They fell in **_**MY FOREST, KID! **_**They belong to **_**ME!**_" He yelled.

"But they came from her ship!" I shouted.

"**I don't care! Remember, **_**you two **_**are still my property, too! So, anything that belongs to you actually belongs to me! Thus, your argument is invalid!**" He yelled.

He reached out with his arm in a flash of purple.

But he strangely didn't smack either of us. He'd grabbed the kid's hat!

"Seriously?" I grumbled.

He put it on, and an aura of purple and black flame enveloped the arena, making it impossible to see.

Wait, that's different.

"Kid?" I asked, "What else can your hat do?"

"Uh-I-um..." She stuttered, "I-I guess it works differently for people who have magic?..."

The aura vanished, revealing nothing but pitch black and Snatcher's creepily morphing face looming straight ahead.

"**Time you saw what I'm really capable of, kids. Say goodbye to those little heads of yours!**" He hissed.

Yeesh.

The arena suddenly reappeared, but surrounded by a wall of purple and yellow flame.

Snatcher's face morphed into a single yellow beacon that begun radiating energy, channeling it below me.

The ground began to glow with many colours.

Oh, hell.

I dashed out of the way just as the ground exploded in pillar of epileptic light. Snatcher did it again.

I casually walked away, until he tried leading it into me, but I stopped.

"Nice try," I muttered.

He put his hands down and summoned his minions at the end of them, then began to spin around.

"Jump!" I yelled, and I began hopping over the waves of minions. I looked over to the kid, who was doing the same.

He stopped, and I dashed over to him, then whacked him with my baton.

But it phased right through him.

He cackled.

What?

"**You're probably waiting for a chance to hit me, aren't you?**" He asked mockingly, "**Sorry, kiddos, I'm a shadow, and I guess that makes me invincible, huh? That's **_**too bad!**_"

He cackled maniacally.

Well, sh-Wait, I know this is a random thought, but I should probably stop swearing, even in my head, for the kid's sake.

"Peck off!" I yelled.

I felt a presence again, and I knew who it was.

"Light blue is a sign of weakness in this world, especially for the paranormal," The voice said, "If you could paint him blue, you could hit him."

"Thanks," I muttered.

But how do I get him blue?

"**Such language...**" Snatcher grumbled, then summoned some beakers full of glowy blue liquid. "**Let's try some of these!**"

He turned to the kid and began to toss them in her direction, trying to lead them into her, but she was able and dodged them all.

"**Hmm... not enough? Let's try a thousand!**" He yelled, then summoned a _stupidly large _amount of potions.

He tossed them all into the air, and they began to rain down everywhere.

"Calm the frick down!" I yelled, dashing out of the torrent.

I looked around and saw the kid still unscathed, but the ground was covered in blue residue and scorch marks.

Good thing none of those landed on us.

"**Too many, eh? Let's try just one!**" He suggested, then summoned a single blue potion.

I snorted.

"That makes no sense, but whatever," I muttered, and he threw it at me.

I waited for the last second, making it look like I wasn't expecting it, then sidestepped away at the last second.

He seemed genuinely surpised, which made me smirk. However, the potion didn't break.

"**Wait, hold on. That one totally should've hit you!**" He grumbled.

"Too bad," I hissed.

He brought the potion so it was looming over my head.

"**Come on, give it a chance! I honestly don't know what these do! For all I know, they could heal you!**" He stated, and I dashed out of the way as it fell.

"Nah, I'm not stupid enough to risk it," I muttered, "If you're so curious, dump it on yourself."

He frowned.

"**You're kinda rude, aren't you?**" He hissed.

He summoned his minions again.

Pretty easy attack, just hopping over and over again.

He vanished into the ground, reappearing later as a large group of shadow clones. Shadow clones of _us._

The ones near me began to taunt, and it seemed the kid's clones were taunting her as well.

"**This is how you look! You're an idiot!**" Most of them taunted.

"**And you smell!**" Another shouted.

"Considering you're a shadow demon without a nose, both of those statements are rich coming from you," I spat.

I looked over at the kid, and stopped.

I don't know how or why, but she seemed genuinely broken.

I swatted the clones out of my way then picked her up and put her on my shoulder.

"It's just him, kiddo. Don't listen to him," I said, and she nodded, then hopped down.

The clones all disappeared, and Snatcher reappeared in the center with a bunch more potions.

"**Well, if you're gonna be like this, let's try this again!**" He shouted contently before making them all rain down again.

I stepped out of the way and made sure the kid didn't get hit when something bashed into my face.

"Oof!"

I fell down and looked to see a potion lying on the ground next to me. Somehow, it didn't break.

A grin crept onto my face.

He wasn't gonna expect this.

I picked it up and looked straight at him.

"Hey, spooky!" I yelled, and he turned to me with a look of confusion. "Catch this!"

I chucked the potion straight at his stupid yellow face and it shattered, raining blue liquid all over him.

He seemed completely shocked.

The look on his face... whoo boy... I couldn't help it...

I just began laughing as hard as I could.

"**D-did you just... paint me blue... with my own attack?**" He scoffed, and I nodded smugly. "**Th-this can't count, right? Surely this doesn't count?!**"

His look of shock twisted into a feral scowl.

"**That... does it... **_**TIME TO DIE!**_"

He started doing his beam thing again, but I could see three beams appearing in the ground.

Oh, he was _**mad.**_

He began rapidly making beams appear out of the ground, but it was still basically the same attack so I dodged with relative ease. Kid seemed to also dodge it effortlessly.

He teleported into the ground then suddenly reappeared on the other side, which knocked us both off of our feet. I saw that he released a shockwave whilst doing so. I got up and began hopping as he teleported and hopping over the shockwaves before he appeared right below me, trying to swat me.

I rolled behind him and whacked him as hard as possible. It connected, and he released an alarmed shout.

He did his beam thing again, but summoned four, and they seemed to spin around the arena.

Huh?

One appeared right in front of me, I'm actually glad it didn't burn my nose off.

The arena faded into darkness, and I looked at Snatcher's face. He winked with his left eye, then two Snatchers appeared right next to me.

Wait, what?

"Attack him in the direction he winks in," The mysterious voice stated.

I quickly turned to the one on my right and hit it in the face. It connected.

The arena reappeared, revealing the other 'Snatcher' to be a wooden cutout.

"**Try this on for size!**" Snatcher yelled as he teleported into the middle, then summoned a wave of beams that began to snake around the arena.

I dove out of the way, but heard a scream. A high pitched scream.

Oh, no.

I looked over to where the kid was sitting, and she looked torched.

Forget what I was thinking earlier.

"Shit!" I yelled.

I rushed over to her.

"Can you stand?" I asked frantically, and she tried standing, and was barely able to do so. She looked... defeated.

She was in no condition for fighting.

I picked her up gently and sat her on my shoulder.

"Hold on," I ordered.

This asshole was gonna pay. Big time.

The arena faded to darkness again, and I saw him wink with his right eye.

Two Snatchers appeared next to me again, and I whacked the left one. He stumbled backward as the arena faded back into light.

I swung furiously with my baton, and I was able to hit him again before he disappeared.

"**What... are you?!**" He screamed, then began rapidly teleported throughout the arena.

I dashed out of the way before he teleported, dodging his swipe.

He was on the brink of defeat.

I smirked.

"I'm your worst nightmare," I hissed, then jumped up to him and flipped through the air, smacking him harder than I could've ever thought possible in the face.

He screamed, and the arena was filled with light.

It faded to darkness, and I saw Snatcher on his metaphorical knees in a spotlight.

He began panting.

"**You're... such a disrespectful young man,**" He grumbled.

Young man? Now that's what I'm talking about.

I stepped forward.

Time to get back our freedom.

"**I feel... so weak!**" He stated quietly.

I continued walking.

"**Please... have mercy,**" He begged.

He was gonna kill us. He deserves no mercy.

I continued walking.

"**Please... **_**HAVE A SEAT!**_" He yelled.

"What the frick?!" I shouted as he jumpscared me.

He shoved me down onto a bench, then stood in front of me, clearly aggravated.

"**All these Time Pieces landed in **_**MY FOREST. **_**They are **_**MY PROPERTY!**_" He shouted.

"Like you said to me: I don't care," I hissed.

A contract appeared in front of me.

"**So, let's make a deal, young man. You two get out of my forest, and we never see you again. How's that sound for a deal? I'll even remove the barrier so the little brat can leave,**" He proposed.

"That's a bad deal. No thank you," I grumbled.

"**Not a fan? Too bad! You don't make the calls here,**" He muttered, then brought the contract up to me. "**Here, I'll even make it easier for you.**"

He stamped the contract.

Hm.

"**Now all that's left is for you two to sign it!**" He stated hopefully.

The contract was called Get Out. The objectives: Get Out, and Just Get Out. The following parts of the forest would be available: 'None of it. Get Out.' At the bottom, it read: 'Please, _**take all your junk **_and leave.'

I snorted. Did he really have that just laying around?

The kid hopped down and began to sign it, then stopped. She adopted a thoughtful look.

What was that kid planning?

She began to scribble over the contract.

The edited contract was called Stay And Have Fun. The objective was Be Nice, The following parts of the forest would be available: 'All of it.' At the bottom, it read: 'Please, be my BFF.'

I began laughing yet again. That was so like her.

She finished her signature and I signed it.

"**You understand that's not how contracts work, right? I'm giving you a chance to scram, kids! There's no catches or clauses this time!**" He explained desperately.

We stood still. We were gonna break him, no matter what.

"**What if I give you your soul back? And you your freedom? W-will that make you leave?**" He asked desolately.

It took all of my willpower to keep myself from laughing another time.

A purple hazy mass flew into the kid, and she fell to the ground with a sigh, but it seemed like a sigh of relief. Just to be sure, I looked into her eyes, and there was light yet again.

She grinned and hugged me. I hugged her back.

On my wrists, I could feel something loosen. I looked, and the shackles were gone.

We didn't leave, though. Personally, I wanted to see what he'd do, and I bet the kid did too.

"**Yes? No? Hello?! Why aren't you saying anything?!**" He yelled.

Silence.

"**You're quite the character, aren't you? And a tough negotiator,**" He grumbled, "**Fine, I'll sweeten the deal for you.**"

A Time Piece flew out of the ground and into my grasp. I grinned, and so did the kid.

"**There, take my last Time Piece. If I continue to see you two brats around my forest, I'll be **_**VERY... DISAPPOINTED!**_" He yelled.

"Thank you," I said professionally, "Pleasure doing business with you. We'll be taking our leave now."

I handed the kid the Time Piece, and we teleported back to the ship.

My God, I never thought I'd ever be so happy to see such a familiar sight.

I flopped on the carpet and fell asleep.


	29. Chapter 28: Wounded

Chapter 28: Wounded

**A/N: I'm back. Again. You may wonder why I was gone. Well, there's reasons I already explained, like finals, but I also had graduation to deal with. Then, after that, I got caught up in some video games and completely forgot about my stories. Sorry. However, I will not be busy throughout the summer, so I'll be able to write more (hopefully). I probably won't write tomorrow because it's Canada Day and I'll be busy. Oh, and, I know the chapter name sucks but I couldn't come up with anything better. If you want to, you can suggest to me a better name for a chapter and if I like it, I'll implement it and give you credit.**

I woke up later to being nudged. I opened my eyes. The kid was probably trying to wake me up.

I looked over, but it wasn't the kid that had nudged me, it was her little vacuum thingy, whatever it was called. Because I was so dirty, it was scooting around beside me and cleaning up.

I flopped over, then stood up. I looked around.

Odd that the kid wasn't running around or anything.

Unless she'd gone back to the forest to clean up some rifts. Actually, I don't think we saw any for Dead Bird Studio, but one or two may have appeared in my sleep.

I quickly calculated how many we should have if she didn't go find any more Time Pieces, and the total came in at 20. I looked over at the monitor and saw 26.

So she did go off and get some rifts. But six? How long was I out?

She was probably asleep in her room, now that I thought about it. Going through 6 platforming challenges after fighting two difficult enemies... she was probably dead tired.

Just to make sure, I walked into her room, but the lights were on.

I looked around, and saw her seated at her desk in an odd-looking way, fiddling with something I couldn't see. I walked over, confused, and finally realized what she was doing.

She had a small gash on her right arm, just below her shoulder, and she was trying to disinfect it with rubbing alcohol, but she wasn't doing it. I watched her take a soaked cotton ball and bring it over to the wound, then press it into it, but she hissed out in pain and retracted it.

She seemed on the brink of bursting into tears.

I couldn't stay out of this now.

"Kid?" I called, and she turned to me. She had a hopeless, defeated look on her face.

"How long were you standing there?" She asked, seemingly trying to hide what she was doing.

I sighed.

Why would she hide her injury from me?

I could feel the irritation building in me.

"Long enough," I answered.

She looked down gloomily.

"If you were hurt, you could've told me and I could've helped you," I grumbled, "Why on Earth would you hide something like this from me?! Do you want to stay injured?!"

Tears began to stream down her face.

"I-I didn't want you to be stressed over me," She stammered, "I've already done so much... I don't want to cause you any grief, too. I-I'm sorry, please don't be upset."

I really had to think about what she just said.

"I guess I took that a little far. I guess we can talk later," I muttered, then walked over to the bed and sat down. "Sit down," I said, and she did so.

I took the cotton ball and sighed.

"I'm sorry about this," I apologized, then introduced the cotton ball to the wound.

She jolted and began to hiss and cry out in pain.

...

Words could not describe how terrible I felt in that moment. I knew it was necessary, but still. I was causing her pain. Great pain.

I was almost expecting her to try and get the cotton ball out, but no.

She stood there and took it.

After a few minutes, I took the cotton ball out.

"Are there any medical bandages on this ship?" I asked, and she shakily nodded.

"I-in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom," She stated, and I went and grabbed them.

A short process later and her wound was bandaged.

She began to move her arm around, wincing still.

"I guess try not to use your arm for awhile," I advised sadly, then thought of something. "Where did you even get that?" I asked.

"In the fight with Snatcher. I guess you didn't notice, but while he had you distracted he slashed me in the arm," She explained.

Of course.

But wait.

"But didn't you go out and found 6 more Time Pieces while I was asleep?" I asked, and she nodded slowly.

"I don't know why, but 6 Time Rifts appeared over an interval of like an hour. I have no idea how six pecking rifts were made over such a short timespan, but I found them and fixed all six of them," She stated.

"With a gash in your arm," I grumbled.

She smiled nervously and nodded.

I could feel myself getting frustrated again.

But I couldn't get mad at her.

"You are... something else, kiddo," I muttered, "But don't do something dumb like that again. You could've made your wound _**a lot **_worse, bled out, both, or something else."

"But my species doesn't-" She tried to argue.

"Quite frankly, kiddo, I can't really say I care about a difference between your species and mine. _A wound... is a wound._ You are _injured. _I will not have you go off doing insane stunts with an injury," I stated.

She didn't say anything after that.

I shook my head.

"Don't get me wrong, it's great that you were able to do those rifts and get 6 Time Pieces, it really is, but it was also incredibly foolish. So many things could have happened. Do you see?" I muttered.

She gave me a _**very **_irritated look.

"I think you're forgetting something," She said with clearly faked calmness.

"Forgetting what?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes.

"Time Rifts are dangerous. Extremely. Not directly to people, but to the entire Universe itself. And, if there is a multiverse or whatever, kind of like how you were saying, then for all we know it could have an adverse effect on that, too. Even if something bad did happen, a single life such as my own could not stand in the way of saving trillions, or even quadrillions of lives," She hissed, "I don't expect you to understand how vital this is, because you don't care about anything, but I'm not gonna let these rifts destroy the Universe, no matter _what_ condition I'm in."

I sighed.

"Really?" I said sadly, "I don't understand. You want to be the hero that bad?"

"It's not about being the hero. It's about responsibilities," She stated, "But... yes. I have to find something in myself that makes me something, that makes me some_one._ If I don't, I'm no one, and that would hurt more than any disinfectant."

I could not believe my ears.

How could she?...

"Kid... you're gonna work yourself to death," I warned, "Look. You're already a hero. You've saved Mafia Town, stopped a psychotic director, helped defeat a freaking demon, and if that isn't enough..."

I raised my arms and let them fall to the ground.

"Look at all you've done for me," I stated, "You've also saved me."

I shook my head.

"Do you not care? Do you merely brush me off as a side note? Consider, in your own words, your own brother as not important enough for you?" I asked exasperatedly, "Or are you still refusing to accept all the good you've done?"

She crawled onto her bed and pressed her face into her knees, and I could hear her begin crying.

"I know, and I do care about you. More than anything. You're my big bro," She cried, smiling slightly as she said that last statement, "But I've caused so much harm... so much misery, so much anger, so much pain... I have to do something to make it right. I have to do something... I have to..."

I knelt down to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at me.

"You already have."

She slowly stopped crying, and she flopped down onto her bed.

"If you keep on this path, you'll never satisfy yourself. Nothing will be adequate for you. 'Saving a town? No, not enough. Saving a planet? Still not enough.' I feel like you're trying to save the whole Universe. Kid, you're not a goddess. You'll never rest if you go down that path. So, please, just come to peace with what you've done. The past is the past, all that matters is now," I stated.

She nodded, then slowly got up and began to jump on her bed, smiling and giggling.

I would've stopped her, but decided to let her have some fun.

Let a little girl be a little girl, because this is probably the first time she truly can be.


	30. Chapter 29: Acrophobia

Chapter 29: Acrophobia

**A/N: Seeing as I completely forgot about my whole 'curseword alarm' idea from earlier, I decided to scrap it. If y'all have gotten this far into this story and haven't left, I assume you don't mind it. Oh, and, yeah, I didn't upload again for a few days, I'm not feeling as motivated this time around. Don't get me wrong, I love writing and whatnot, but sometimes I simply don't want to and other times I just plain forget. I am human, after all.**

For the next week or so, we did nothing and waited for her gash to heal. We couldn't go running around doing crazy stunts like that if she was injured, now could we? No. Absolutely not.

Yet, once again, it was her who got hurt, not me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did save her life by taking that knife for her, but a) I don't want her to return the favour, and b) I still value her life more than my own.

But a small gash isn't something to worry oneself too much about, so we still had fun and whatnot.

Around 10 days after the confrontation with Snatcher (or, I think it was 10 days, I dunno, I did fall asleep after all), I felt something tackle me to the ground from behind.

I yelled out in alarm and prepared to retaliate, thinking that that moustached brat had gotten on the ship, but heard giggling.

I shook my head.

"I guess that means you're back to normal?" I asked emotionlessly.

"Yep!" She said happily.

"I'm sure there was a better way you could've told me, kiddo," I grumbled, then got up. She giggled again.

"But just telling you wouldn't have been fun!" She pouted.

I shook my head in amusement.

However, she was healed, and we did do nothing for over a week...

We really needed to get back on track.

"Do you have any ideas where to look next for your Time Pieces?" I asked.

She put a hand to her chin and made a 'hmm' sound.

"Not really," She muttered.

I walked over to the giant window and looked over the planet.

I focused on a distant set of mountains isolated from the rest of the planet.

I pointed at it, then stopped.

The mountain peaks were above the clouds, and the mountains themselves were so steep that the peaks were the only place to actually explore.

So, not only would I be petrified because of my acrophobia, we'd probably suffocate to death or not be able to do any tiring activities or risk suffocating.

However, she seemed to see where I was looking and looked at it herself.

"Oh! That's a great place to look!" She exclaimed, then ran over to a locked door and diverted power to it.

'Power restored to engine room and laboratory.'

"Wait, kid," I grumbled, and she stopped.

"What?" She asked, "Are you afraid of heights?"

I tilted my head.

"Well, there's that, but I'm willing to try to face my fears to help you," I confessed, "However, that is not my concern."

"What's the problem?" She asked again.

"Did you see how steep the mountains are? We'd only be able to explore the peaks, and the peaks are above the clouds. That kind of altitude, we'd suffocate or very nearly suffocate," I stated.

She shook her head.

"Nope!" She denied, "My species needs a really low amount of air, which we've gained over time because of our space travel, and I also put another ability into your sweater."

Huh?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"As long as you keep your hood up, you'll get basically a portable mini-atmosphere and you won't have to worry about suffocation," She said proudly.

Say what?

A _portable atmosphere?_

"Kid, how on earth do you do these things?" I asked in amazement, "I-I mean, that's crazy!"

She scratched her head, clearly flattered.

"Oh... uh... well... magical garb is commonplace for my people. Like, everyone can imbue clothes they sew with abilities and whatnot as long as they do it while they're sewing it, have proper yarn to do so, blah blah blah. Any ability can be made into a hat so long as the person knows how to do it and has the right yarn for it. Here, I could demonstrate if you want me to," She muttered nonchalantly.

"You got enough yarn to make a hat?" I asked, and she nodded. "Well, it's not like I'm gonna stop you from making it. Go nuts."

She grinned, weaved a bunch of brown and green yarn, then threw it up into the air, and with a few twirls from her umbrella, out popped a mask that looked exactly like the ones the Dwellers wear.

"Presto!" She shouted.

"Cool," I muttered, "What does it do?"

"With this, I can see through a Dweller's eyes!" She said proudly, "And by that I mean I'll be able to focus and turn those weird green platforms into actual platforms. Or those purple ones into fake ones. You know what I mean?"

"So it's like a portable bell?" I asked, and she nodded. "Clever. Very clever."

She grinned, then looked around impatiently.

"We're getting off topic. We should really go down and get started," She advised.

"Wait, you sure you'll be warm enough like that? I mean, it gets pretty cold at high altitudes," I asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," She promised.

"Okay then," I said tiredly, then followed her into this new room.

My jaw dropped at the sight.

It was an unholy mess. Burst pipes leaking water, ice crystals, pools of water, random items spewed about, and a broken elevator leading into another section of the room.

"Kid, how often do you run maintenance on your ship?" I asked.

She scratched her head uncomfortably.

"Uh... well... only when I really, really need to," She said quietly.

I took a deep breath.

"I don't care what you say. When we're done with this Time Piece fiasco, you and I are fixing this place up ourselves," I stated annoyedly.

"But-" She protested.

"'But' nothing. This place is coming apart at the seems. You've clearly been living too long without adult supervision," I grumbled.

"Rude," She pouted.

"No, wait, I don't mean it _that _way. The fact that you, a little girl, was able to live by herself completely alone all this time without something catastrophic happening is amazing and truly impressive. But you're still a little girl. So, I must be the adult in this situation, and that means sometimes you'll have to take orders from me," I stated.

She pouted.

"Sorry, kid, that's just how life works," I apologized, then cleared my throat. "Anyways... how do we get over to the other side of this room? The elevator's broken."

"Uh, we could try swinging off of a broken pipe," She suggested, "See? Everything has a purpose."

"Mhm, sure kiddo," I said jokingly and sarcastically, and we swung over to the other side of the room. The ship's gigantic engine was on the other side, and I saw a telescope next to a window.

I looked through it, and a few seconds later I landed on a cliff face.

I looked around, then looked down off the cliff.

I am an idiot for doing so.

Shivers went down my spine, I began to feel dizzy, and I fell backward. I faintly saw the kid land next to me.

I slowly got up and looked around, seeing a path in the rock leading up ahead. We slowly began to trek through it, and I ground to a halt at a rickety wooden bridge swaying slightly in the breeze.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

I never should've come here.

Ever.


	31. Chapter 30: Liberty

Chapter 30: Liberty

**A/N: Ah peck, here we go again.**

**I didn't upload in, like, a week. I know, I apologize. I know some of you may not care for excuses at this point, but... I was gonna upload on Tuesday, but I a) forgot, and b) never got around to it. Aaaand Wednesday to today I was out of town visiting my half sister, so I couldn't upload then. Whaddaya do? I'll try to upload faster now, but no promises. I may lose motivation or forget again.**

I saw the kid walk across the bridge casually, as if nothing was wrong.

Seeing this, I told myself to stop being a wuss and followed her. The path ahead was blocked by two ancient-looking wooden doors, and a bell hung in the air off to the side.

The kid clamped onto the clapper of the bell and swung it back and forth, ringing the bell thrice, and the doors opened slowly.

It was as if they hadn't been opened in centuries.

We saw a path leading ahead on another cliff and followed it until we came to a set of ancient-looking stone stairs. They were broken and moldy in some spots and seemed to have no support whatsoever.

I also noticed that, although the peaks appeared to be above the clouds from space, they were actually in them. We'd have to worry about the wind.

The stairs seemed to be the only way to get to the top, spiraling up the outside of the cliff.

The kid stepped down onto the first stair.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked.

"These stairs look like they've been here for thousands of years. If they've withstood storms, winds, and whatever nature could throw at it, they can withstand us," She stated.

"But the stairs didn't make it out unscathed. You can see that they're broken and lacking support, right?" I grumbled.

"It'll be fine. My umbrella will-"

I stared right at her, and she frowned.

"You don't have anything to stop a fall with," She muttered.

"Exactly," I confirmed, "I don't want to fall to my death. At least if you fall, you can go back up to the ship and come back down. If I fall, you know what'll happen."

She stepped forward more, then hopped up and down.

"Stop that!" I hissed.

The stairs didn't budge.

"See? It'll be fine," She said.

I shook my head and followed her up the stairs.

We quickly stopped when we came to a section of stair that was _completely _missing.

"Maybe a boulder fell?" She questioned.

I looked for a way to get across and became displeased to see a hookshot clamp hanging in the air.

"Super. Absolutely wonderful," I grumbled, then eventually calmed my nerves and swung across.

She swung across and landed next to me.

Man, those hookshot badges saved our rears so much, we'd be dead without 'em.

Hold on a minute...

"Hey, kid, I think I may have an idea to deal with the whole falling problem," I said.

"Oh?" She muttered.

"Didn't you say a while ago that there's some weird dude that sells badges? Called the Badge Seller or something like that?" I asked, and she nodded. "Good, maybe if I see him I can have a little chat with him. He'd probably have something to deal with falling, eh?"

She nodded slowly, and we continued trekking up the stairs. Some hideous gigantic spiders fell down and tried ambushing us, but we just avoided them, and if we couldn't avoid them, we killed them.

If you ask me, spiders are abominations anyway. Bringing one or two out of this world is a good thing.

I stopped when I heard a loud rumbling.

"What was that?" The kid asked.

"I... have no idea," I answered nervously. Ahead, a fresh-looking chasm awaited us.

"Oh," She said.

"We need to get off of these stairs ASAP," I grumbled, and saw two more clamps. I swung across, then she did, and we bolted up the rest of the stairs, stopping at the peak.

It was incredibly relieving to be out of that situation, but now we were at a dead end. I looked around and saw a strange looking area.

Statues, skulls, torches, all arranged in a grave-like fashion, and some weird wooden rods planted into the ground with wooden handles coming out of the top in a plus fashion.

Looked oddly similar to an anchor hoist, but much smaller and without a chain... or anchor.

Ahead, a tall stone statue laid at the very edge of the cliff, and it was oddly shaped like a screw.

Hmm...

"Hey, kid, turn those wooden things," I advised, and she ran over to the one on the left while I took care of the right one.

It refused to move no matter how much I tried to push it, so I became irritated and tried smacking it with my baton for the peck of it.

After the smack, it turned some. Another whack or two and it was fully cranked, and I heard a rumbling noise like that of thunder.

I turned to the screw-like statue, which crackled and rumbled as it violently twisted a bit into the ground.

I saw the kid finish turning her wooden thing, and the statue violently twisted down more to another crack of thunder.

I ran over to the middle one and quickly whacked it. It spun into the ground, and the statue completely drilled itself into the ground.

A rope popped out of the top of it, decorated with colourful banners. The rope seemed to extend into infinity, stretching out into a vast storm ahead.

I pulled on the rope, and it was strung very tight. Wasn't moving no matter what.

"Hey, kid, you have any idea what this is?" I asked.

She tugged on the rope with the crooked handle of her umbrella, then proceeded to do a bunch of other stuff that I couldn't really tell what it was.

"Oh!" She said contently, "It's a zipline!"

"A _zipline?_" I grumbled, "You sure about that, kiddo?"

"Well, why else would there be a rope stretching off into who-knows-where? It can't be a tightrope," She explained.

"I'm not doing a zipline," I stated, "I'm not plummeting to my death, not today. Not _any _day."

"You're not gonna fall!" She pouted, "Since when were you such a big sissy?"

"I'm not a sissy," I grumbled, "I just have acrophobia."

"Same thing!" She muttered.

"It is not!" I countered.

"Look, we have hookshots. We can just clamp onto the end of the rope and let it bring us to wherever," She reasoned.

"Aaand what happens if I let go of my baton?" I asked, "This zipline could last for, like, half an hour or longer. I won't be able to keep my grip anywhere near that long."

She sighed.

"Well, I have one other idea," She said, "We could try going at the same time and hold hands so that if we fall, you can just hang on to me and we'll safely fall to the ground."

"But wouldn't that just screw it up?" I asked.

She fumed, then threw her arms up into the air and let them fall to her side.

"I don't know!" She yelled, "You got any better ideas?"

...

"Do you?" She asked.

"No," I muttered, "Ugh, fine, I'll do this idiotic zipline or whatever it is."

She nodded contently.

"I'll go first," She stated, then clamped onto the zipline and immediately sped off into the horizon.

My jaw dropped, and I followed suit.

"_**HOLY MOTHER OF PECKING PECK!**_" I screeched.

I felt like a fricking bullet, speeding along the sky as my hands were clamped onto my baton for dear life.

As I entered the storm, my jaw dropped once again.

It looked like I was in space.

I could see the stars, the constellations, the galaxies, everything.

However, I was out of the strange mini-Universe as soon as I was in it, and I looked around to see what seemed to be a civilization in the sky.

Gigantic statues of goats rested on peaks were holding large logs, and hanging from the logs were large golden bells swaying slightly in the breeze.

It was... beautiful.

I wished I could take a picture of it.

Eventually, the zipline ended, and I landed on a wooden platform. I saw the kid waiting for me.

She giggled.

"You look like a fish," She taunted.

I quickly attempted a smile, then put my face into my hands.

"That's one for the record books," I grumbled, "That was..."

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad!" She pouted.

"That was fricking awesome! I almost want to do it again!" I shouted.

She seemed surprised by my reaction, then giggled again.

"Well, let's go talk to some locals. This seems like a nice enough place," I advised while getting up, and I saw a short person standing next to a really large house.

The person looked like some sort of desert nomad, covered completely in robes that made seeing any facial features other than their eyes impossible.

I walked up to the nomad, who noticed us instantly.

"Ooh! Visitors! We haven't had new faces show up around here in a _loooong _time! (Well, except for that strange-looking masked man who keeps trying to sell me 'souvenirs' of his.)" They welcomed in an Egyptian accent.

I mentally chuckled.

Another accent that I have no idea how I know about it.

The nomad cleared their throat.

"Welcome to Alpine Skyline! Feel free to make yourselves at home!" They exclaimed, and I nodded.

"Thank you," I said, then looked around. The kid took off and climbed up to another part of the village, and I followed her. She stopped next to a nomad that was staring at a faraway peak, one hand shielding their eyes.

"Hello?" She greeted.

"Have you noticed those bright, flashing lights in the sky? They started appearing recently after some weird hourglasses fell from the sky. Wonder what they could be," They muttered, "Either way, I really wish they wouldn't be so bright. They're blinding!"

The kid smiled.

"Those bright lights will be gone before you know it!" She beamed.

The nomad nodded and turned around, and the kid ran over to a circular spring-loaded wood board. She jumped on it before I could even begin to tell her to wait up.

I groaned and jumped on the pad as well, then saw another one and bounced on it.

I landed and saw a very weird... person(?) awaiting us. He seemed to twitch, was purple, wore red clothes, had a bag on his back, and had a creepy looking mask. He looked... glitchy. Like he was a really buggy character from some crappy video game.

The kid ran toward... it, and I slowly followed.

"Hi!" She greeted.

"Hello, young one," They greeted in a mysterious voice, "Have you come to make another purchase?"

She smiled.

"Actually," She said, then pointed at me. "He is," She answered.

Soooo... this must be the Badge Seller.

Just to confirm my thoughts, I greeted with: "You must be the Badge Seller?"

The merchant nodded.

"Yes, I am the Badge Seller. I have been to many, many places like none that you could ever dream to imagine, and now I sell souvenirs from my travels. I do believe I have some wares I could interest you in," It-he explained, "Are you, by chance, the child's older sibling?"

"Well... we're not related, but I guess you could say that if you wanted to," I muttered, "Anyway, what do you have?"

He pulled out four badges, each one with a different logo on the front.

"As of now, I have four badges that seem to resonate with you and your apparel. Those are: the Hover Badge, the Whirlwind Badge, the Mumble Badge, and the Shadow Badge," He stated.

Hm, all four of those badges sounded very interesting.

"What do they all do?" I asked.

"The Hover Badge upgrades your hood, allowing it to save you from falls that would injure or kill you and do so automatically. The Whirlwind Badge affects your baton and can have a few different effects. It could allow you to spin with your baton into a whirlwind of pain, hitting anything that comes close, or it could merely allow you to charge up a single attack so that it hits with the force of a whirlwind," He explained.

I whistled.

"It is one of my rarer badges, and comes with a high price," He explained, then seemed to become amused. "I also have the Mumble Badge, which I truly believe resonates with you, as you could equip it, and all voice would become inaudible. It also comes with a high price. However, I do believe your... darker personality resonates with my rarest badge," He muttered.

I was kinda put off by the Mumble Badge thingy, but this really hooked me. I wouldn't consider myself a dark person, but that shadow thing sounded cool.

"You mean that Shadow Badge or whatever it's called?" I asked.

"Yes, quite. For 1500 pons, you could become one with the shadows. Should you ever be caught in a bad situation, you and anything... or anyone you are holding onto could shrink into the shadows and disappear for up to two minutes," He stated proudly. He clearly valued this badge.

"But, I must warn you. The realm of shadows is a dangerous place. Travelling there is what wrecked my body into this... twitchy anomaly you now see before you. If you stay in there for longer than two minutes, I cannot guarantee that the badge would be able to prevent you from being consumed by the shadows," He warned.

I looked at the logo on the badge, and it showed a looming shadow and an obscure picture of a hood inside of the shadow.

Being able to disappear? Into the fricking darkness? Awesome. Also, I don't think I'd plan on staying there for longer than two minutes anyway. But... 1500 pons... I don't even know if the Mafia Boss would've been able to afford that.

"Okay... that's cool and all, but I'm never gonna be able to get that. How much for the Hover Badge?" I asked.

"100 pons," He answered.

I felt my pockets and pulled out a bag of 100.

I didn't remember collecting many of those things, let alone putting them in a bag, but it's not like it was anything to complain about.

I tossed it to the merchant, who took it and tossed me the badge.

"If you show me that you're a worthwhile investment by buying more badges, I may be willing to give you a discount," He suggested.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," I muttered, then looked over to the kid, who was also looking at the other badges.

"We should get going," I told her, and she snapped out of her daze and nodded.

"Bye!" She exclaimed, and then ran off giggling. I ran after her, grumbling the whole time.

We were free now, truly free. We'd never had this kind of... liberty before. Not even in Mafia Town. The kid was probably raring to go.

There was no way I'd be able to keep up with her now.

So I just haphazardly clipped on the badge and continued running after her.


	32. Chapter 31: Misery Trip

Chapter 31: Misery Trip

**A/N: It's been another week since I've uploaded. I don't really have an excuse this time, other than a power outage on Wednesday and forgetting on Tuesday, but I just didn't feel like doing it the rest of the week. Wanted to play games. I'm a gamer. Sorry.**

She took a hard right and jumped off a cliff.

Wait, _what?!_

Before I could scream out 'what are you doing?!', she hooked onto a hookshot that I hadn't seen and swung into a ball of black-green yarn, then jumped off and landed gracefully in front of me.

"Can you warn me before you do something ludicrous like that?" I asked. She just giggled and nodded, then proceeded to examine the new yarn she got. Her eyes suddenly widened.

"Ooh!" She exclaimed.

"What?" I muttered, then she tossed me the yarn, which I caught effortlessly.

I, too, examined the yarn, but it seemed like a boring old ball of yarn to me.

"I can't detect whatever you're trying to show me. You'll have to explain it to me," I told her, then tossed her back the yarn.

"This hat will allow me to slow time!" She shouted.

"Can't your Time Pieces rewind time? Why not just use those?" I countered.

She frowned.

"You've already seen what they can do. Power corrupts. The Time Pieces are no exception. Using them as something other than fuel for the spaceship is stupid and foolish," She said disapprovingly, "Not to mention all of the possible side effects that could come with using them, like time paradoxes. Once you get stuck in one, you're done for."

"Right..." I muttered, "Do you think you have enough yarn?"

She chuckled.

"Not even halfway there," She muttered, "Well, I'm getting bored. Let's go do stuff!"

She bolted again before I could respond.

"Wait-!" I yelled, but she was already gone.

You know what? If she wanted to explore so badly, then the best opportunity would likely be to wait for her to return. She would, obviously.

So, I sat down and looked around. Where I was, I saw two set of peaks off in the distance, one full of fire and magma, and the other with a ludicrously large windmill on the central peak.

I don't know if it was a mirage, but on the lava one it seemed like there were layers of lava stacked on top of one another, almost in a cake-like fashion.

No, it surely had to be a mirage. There was no way that could be possible.

Before I could think about it any more, I heard a loud noise that was probably made by a large horn come from somewhere else in the village.

I shook my head.

Seemed the kid was really doing some exploring.

I went back to sightseeing.

Wait a minute...

Ziplines seemed to emerge from some trees on small peaks.

So that's how we're gonna be travelling from village to peaks.

Super. Wonderful.

I saw the kid run around, looking around, and I whistled to catch her attention. She ran over to me.

"Was that you with the horn?" I asked, and she nodded. "They seemed to have opened ziplines to the four peaks. Speaking of, we should probably go ask what they are."

She grinned.

"Leave it to me!" She beamed, then ran off.

I shook my head in bewilderment. She'd never been _this _energetic before.

She returned later with a big smile on her face.

"You get any info?" I asked.

"I know what the four other mountains are!" She shouted, "There's the Twilight Bell, the Birdhouse, the Lava Cake (which is something I never thought I'd have to say), and the Old Windmill."

"So it wasn't a mirage after all," I whispered to myself.

"Huh?" She asked.

"Nothing," I muttered, "Well, where to?"

"Hmm... what do you wanna do?" She asked.

"Doesn't matter to me, I'm sure I'll hate them all equally," I said jokingly.

She rolled her eyes.

"Well, the windmill shouldn't be that bad," She muttered, "Yeah, let's do the Old Windmill!"

I nodded and stood up.

"Okay, where's the zipline?" She asked, and I pointed right beside me with a blank expression. "Oh," was all she said.

I chuckled.

"Come on, kid," I beckoned, then hopped over to the zipline. "This time, I'll go first," I stated, then pointed my baton at the zipline.

I sighed. Bullet-time yet again.

I clamped onto it, and... _pew!_ Off I went.

The ziplines actually weren't that bad. If anything, as long as I didn't look down they actually seemed really fun to ride.

I landed at what seemed to be a small outpost. I stood up and looked around. Already I was beginning to feel less afraid around heights.

I saw a nomad awaiting me and approached them.

"Anything here that could be of use?" I asked.

"There's a horn at the top," They answered.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"_Weeeeee!_" I heard, accompanied by the sound of metal scraping along rope.

I turned around, and the kid landed right in front of me.

"You seem like you're enjoying yourself," I muttered.

"I'm not afraid of heights! Also, this is the only time we've been allowed to explore a place freely! Of course I'm enjoying myself!" She exclaimed.

"Just don't do anything rash in your excitement, kid. Remember to wait for me," I told her, and she nodded.

"Can we go explore now?" She asked impatiently.

Just raring to go.

I chuckled and nodded.

She ran across a bridge, and it's just my luck.

What do I mean?

Well, the bridge collapsed behind her.

She turned around and giggled.

"Seriously?" I grumbled, "Fine, then."

I took a running start and jumped over the gap, caught the edge, and pulled myself up. The kid ran up a set of wooden stairs, so I followed her.

We both stopped at the top, and I became confused at what I saw. A wooden plank wall suspended in the air, and a wooden platform at the top of it.

There was nothing beneath it.

Aaaaand the kid just up and jumped toward the wall, climbed up it, and hopped onto the platform. She looked down at me.

"Come on!" She cheered.

"I don't have a death wish, kid," I grumbled.

"You have that badge," She stated.

"Which'll probably strangle me when it activates," I muttered under my breath, "Fine."

I crouched down, jumped up with every bit of force I could, then lightly grabbed onto the wall and used the rest of my upward momentum to try and scale it.

I just _**barely **_caught the edge of the platform, but not enough to be able to pull myself up.

But the kid was there, and she pulled me up.

"See?" She beamed, "You did it! You just need some practice."

"Practice that'll get me killed," I said.

"Blah blah blah, let's get going," She grumbled, then ran off ahead.

"_What did I say just like five fricking minutes ago?!_" I yelled, then ran after her.

She jumped toward another cliff and climbed up some vines to get on top of it, and I stopped thinking and did the same, and actually did it instead of almost falling.

I looked in horror to see a tightrope over to the next area. The only good thing was that it was really short.

"This is gonna be my own personal hell," I grumbled, then jumped onto the tightrope and just jumped over to the other side.

Fortunately, she had stopped and was waiting for me.

She motioned over to the cliff face and ran onto a wooden platform, and I caught up quickly.

The bridge ahead looked extremely weak and fragile, like it'd just collapse like the other one, so I merely picked the kid up, took a really deep breath...

This really was gonna be torture for me.

Then I closed my eyes and just ran across. Sure enough, the wood planks gave way beneath my feet. When I opened my eyes, though, we were on the other side and not plummetting to sea level.

The kid quickly ran away.

"Wait, kid!" I yelled, "Can we have a bit of a break?"

She turned around and gave me an annoyed and impatient look.

"But I wanna explore!" She pouted.

"Yes, I know, I kind of want to too, but this is a bit much. All of this is really tiring me out. I'm not asking to return to the ship, but can we just stop and rest for like fifteen minutes?" I asked... no... begged.

"Okay then," She said, then sat down. "Maybe I can get some sightseeing in!"

"Sure, kid," I muttered, then sat down as well.

I honestly didn't know what was the most tiring aspect of this... misery trip. The platforming... parkour... whatever you call it, my acrophobia, or chasing after the kid over and over.

All I knew was that the next week was gonna be a _really _bad time for me.


	33. Chapter 32: Here We Go Again

Chapter 32: Here We Go Again

**A/N: I don't even know what to say. I've lost track of how long it's been since I've uploaded, again, and here I promised this wasn't going to happen, again. I'm sorry to have broken another promise. But, look, my motivation to write increases and decreases, I gain and lose interest in certain games. Thus, my writing schedule has become practically nonexistant.**

**However, I can promise one thing.**

**I will never completely abandon my stories. Never ever.**

**If I wish to stop updating a story, I will completely remove it from the website, and all of my stories are still here, so... yeah. Just be patient, please. It's honestly flattering for this little old story to have become as popular as it is, I'll not leave it to rot.**

So, we sat around for like 15 minutes doing nothing. I knew immediately when she was ready to go as she'd progressively get more and more antsy until she could hardly sit still. It surprised me that she didn't complain or anything.

I looked over to see her with possibly the most impatient look I could ever imagine on her face, and I smirked.

"Ready to go?" I asked, and she grinned and nodded. "Well, I'm not," I said blankly...

You should've seen the death glare she gave me. If looks could kill, I'd be six feet under.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Kidding!" I shouted, and she rolled her eyes, "We'll never get these Time Pieces if we just sit around all day. I'm ready to go."

So, I got up, and the kid took off immediately. I said nothing and just ran after her, until she ran across a bridge which fell apart behind her.

I groaned.

She turned back to me from the wooden platform she was on and giggled nervously.

"Ah, shit, here we go again," I grumbled quietly.

I took another running start and jumped across the bridge, this time actually landing on the other side, but barely.

I stepped away from the ledge, and before I could say anything, the kid was already off ahead.

I followed her, then ground to a stop at, you guessed it, another tightrope. _Such _amazing_ luck I have._

At this point I was too irritated to even care about the seemingly endless fall beneath and just walked across without any issue.

The kid waited for me, surprisingly enough, clapped, and then took off again.

Once again I took off after her, and after some mediocre platforming and a very short tightrope walk we arrived at the horn.

I waited for the kid to blow the horn, but she tugged on my sleeve.

"You try!" She exclaimed.

"Fine," I said, then walked up to it.

It was at that point I remembered that I'd never blown a horn before. I mean, I was a city kid, I remembered that much. When would I have blown a horn?

I decided to just wing it, and took a deep breath before blowing the horn.

And I must've done something wrong, cause the horn released a low, quiet, anticlimactic noise that sounded more like a raspberry than the booming, echoing noise it should've made.

I could hear her giggle.

"Welp," I said, "At least I tried."

I stepped out of the way and watched as the kid walked up to the horn, took a deep breath, and blew through it, releasing a booming noise that made me cover my ears and swept the kid right off of her feet.

The noise stopped, and I scratched my head.

"Uh, what now?" I asked.

"We go back to the zipline, another path should've been made," She answered.

I didn't really understand what she meant by path, but I decided not to question it, as I'd find out what she meant soon enough.

She turned to face a blue wooden platform, put on her ice hat, and slammed into it, sending her flying _**aaalll the way**_ back to the zipline.

I didn't even know what to say. How the hell was I supposed to follow her?!

I walked over to the platform and looked back over to the zipline, where the kid was sitting around.

"_**HEY!**_" I shouted, and she looked around, seemingly confused. "Up here!" I yelled.

She spotted me and gave me a confused look.

"How exactly do you expect me to get down there?!" I shouted.

"I dunno, jump!" She yelled back.

I looked down and saw a very big drop, and saw that I'd have to jump and dive down multiple times to get back to the zipline.

"Kid, do you think I'm a fricking masochist?!" I yelled.

"I don't even know what a 'mah-sew-kissed' is!" She responded, "Besides, didn't you buy a badge that'll save you from falling?"

I felt around my sweater, and sure enough, the Hover Badge was clipped there. I'd completely forgotten about it.

"Oh," I muttered.

"Just do it!" She ordered.

I looked off of the edge of the cliff and felt a chill run down my spine.

...

I can't be like this. Not anymore.

I have a kid waiting on me. Depending on me. And here I am.

Being a coward.

No.

I've taken a knife for her. Fought a demon alongside her.

I am no coward.

I will not be _made_ a coward.

Air won't best me.

Air will not best me.

**Air will not best me!**

I threw away all conscious thought and began to jump my way down to the zipline.

After a few minutes, I was standing next to the kid.

Seeing what I just did, damn did it feel good.

I grinned from ear to ear and laughed.

"I told you so."

I turned to the kid, who had her arms crossed.

"Yeah, you did," I muttered.

"Come on," She said, and then grappled onto the zipline. I did the same.

On the way back, I saw that the zipline had branched off into two.

When we landed back at the village, I gazed at the point where the two ziplines merged.

"How do we switch zipline? Is it like a train track?" I asked.

The kid made a mumbling noise that sounded almost like 'I dunno.'

I saw a nomad walk toward us.

"You have to lean toward the zipline you wish to use," They said.

"Oh, thanks," I said, and they nodded.

That's great and all, but how do you 'lean' in midair?

Well it won't kill to try.

I hooked onto the zipline, and when I saw the zipline come up, I swung around my baton to the left, and I heard a noise that sounded like paper ripping and a clicking noise.

I looked around, and sure enough, I was on the other zipline.

"Booyah," I muttered to myself.

The kid better have been paying attention.

I waited a few minutes, slowly growing impatient.

I decided she must've been having issues and prepared to go back, when I faintly heard the sound of metal scraping against rope. Said noise gradually became louder and louder, and soon enough I could see the kid zooming around the mountain.

She landed next to me, and she looked annoyed.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I couldn't see how you were able to do it from so far away. It was mostly guesswork," She grumbled.

"Oh," I muttered, "Sorry."

She smirked.

"Don't worry, I'm not blaming you. You couldn't have known," She reassured.

"Well, shall we continue?" I asked.

"Yes, we shall!" She said happily.

I turned to see a cliff ahead with a windmill built into the cliff, and a bunch of weird purple buds growing below the windmill.

I walked across a bridge over to the cliff, and prodded a bud.

I had no idea why, but these plants had 'bad news' written all over them. Figuratively, of course. That'd just be weird literally.

I looked up to the windmill, and saw that the vanes were shaped like hooks on the ends. Hooks that could likely be hooked onto.

I pointed my baton at it, pressed the trigger, and sure enough, the hook clamped on the end without issue. I let the vane carry me up, then jumped off and landed in front of a gigantic goat walking back and forth beside its large house, which had more purple buds growing near it.

The goat was walking forward and looked down at me in a way that just said "If you don't get out of the way I'll make you out of the way."

I quickly walked out of the way.

The kid landed next to me, then proceeded to climb the house. I obviously followed her, and I turned around just to see her bounce off of another ice board and landing on a cliff near a zipline, which had yellow banners with cat-like markings on them instead of the normal blue banners with windmill markings.

I looked down at her in complete disbelief.

She looked up at me and merely giggled.

She then talked to a nomad, and turned back to me.

"We think there's a horn over there!" She yelled.

It wasn't even worth saying anything.

I just decided to take a leap of faith.

I stepped backward as far as I could, took a running start, and leapt off the building, and unintentionally did a somersault in the air, which led to me faceplanting painfully next to the kid.

I could hear the kid break down and start laughing hysterically.

I slowly got up and clutched my nose.

When she calmed down, I looked at her.

"Well I'm glad _you're _enjoying yourself," I muttered jokingly.

She giggled.

"Let's just go," I said, then grappled onto the zipline.

When I landed, I saw a very troubled nomad up ahead on another platform that seemed slightly roughed up.

I heard the kid land beside me, and I approached the nomad.

"Take care, you two. I went up ahead and was scratched!" They warned.

And the zipline had cat markings.

"Scratched?" I asked, "Like, by a cat? I thought only you and the goats lived here."

"Well, yes, but also no," The nomad stated, "Shortly after our people first came here... _another _group of people came here. A ragtag group of felines called the Lazy Paw Gang, that decided to 'settle' here so they could be a nuisance to us."

"'Nuisance' how?" I asked.

"Well, I mentioned that I was scratched. They don't treat visitors very kindly. They'll knock items from you and snatch them, and attack you if you try to get them back! Sometimes one or two of them will go out and steal something from us in the night!" They ranted.

"So why don't you do something about it?" I asked.

"We have. We've tried making peace. It always ended badly. We won't try to kick them out by force, as that's not our way of life. We've basically learned to just let them do their own thing, and for the _most _part they leave us alone in return. But we can't access the horn they have, so we can't get to the windmill," The nomad complained.

"We'll go ahead! We're not afraid of some cats!" The kid exclaimed.

"Be careful," The nomad said, and I walked across a tightrope into a small village, obviously the base for the gang.

Surprisingly, nobody was there.

I walked out into the center of the village, and still wasn't attacked.

I heard the kid walk ahead, and followed her. I saw her jump up onto a wooden platform, and followed her. I followed her as she jumped and ran across a couple wood platforms.

She stopped at a cliff face, and I stopped a few meters behind her.

She suddenly was knocked backward with enough force to sweep her off her feet and to knock her hat off.

Out of nowhere, a cat seemed to materialize and snatched the hat while snickering with a really weird voice.

I bolted forward with my baton at the ready, and the cat disappeared.

I heard something behind me, and whipped around with my baton as it bashed into the cat's face.

The cat disappeared again, and I looked around.

I saw movement, but still saw nothing. I squinted and faintly saw an outline where the cat's camouflage seemed to fail.

I pretended not to notice, and when the cat came in for another attack, I kicked it in the stomach.

It hissed and fell to the ground, dropping the hat, which I picked up and gave to the kid.

The cat tried to get up, but fell to the floor unconscious.

I looked ahead and saw where we needed to go, a large outcrop ahead with a house and some other, smaller outcrops on it, but there was a large gap between that outcrop and where we were, so large, in fact, that a house was built in it.

The kid jumped ahead and landed on a board stuck in the house's chimney, which bounced her into the air, and she landed on the outcrop.

I decided not to question it and followed her.

In fact, perhaps it was best not to question _**anything **_in this world.

I landed next to her, and she had already knocked out a cat somehow. However, another cat was sneaking up behind her, which I clocked on the head, sending it unconscious.

I jumped and climbed up onto an outcrop and began climbing a ladder. A few seconds later, and we were both standing behind the horn.

I plugged my ears, and the horn was blown.

If that nomad was right, then the Windmill would now be in our reach.

Now we'll just have to see what climbing _**that **_will be like.


	34. Chapter 33: Long-Winded

Chapter 33: Long-Winded

**A/N: I've figured out why I've lost nearly all my motivation. It's this damn chapter (I mean Alpine Skyline, not story chapter). Writing about this monotonous platforming is something I hate. It's boring enough to write about platforming, but I always find something I miss or could do better, so I have to go back and re-write that, and then I worry that the story chapter is gonna end up being boring and monotonous...**

**It's just... **_**draining. Buzzkilling.**_

**I hope you all understand. Once we reach Nyakuza Metro it should become less of a problem.**

**However, on another note, 37 reviews, 57 favourites, and 56 follows! **_**What the peck?! **_**That's insane! I'm flattered beyond belief. I'm sorry I haven't been replying to each individual review. That's something I plan to change. **

***Ahem* Now that this really long author's note is done with, enjoy the chapter!**

We quickly hurried back to the zipline and took off before any other cats could show up. The kid bounced back toward the outpost with her Ice Hat.

I shook my head. No way I was gonna be able to jump all the way back up like that.

So, I looked down and saw that I could easily jump down to where the windmil was built into the cliff, then proceeded to do so, clamping onto a windmill sail with my hookshot before I hit the ground.

I quickly caught up with the kid, who was standing next to the new zipline, and we both took off on the zipline.

I decided to look around a bit on the way to the Windmill, when I noticed something.

There seemed to be a lot of goats living on cliffs that were completely isolated from the main village, no ziplines, no whatever.

Were they intentionally living isolated? Did the goats have a way of getting around that I couldn't even begin to understand? Who knew?

Just another strange feather in this world's cap of oddities.

We landed on a small cliff, and I looked at wait laid ahead of us.

Merely looking at it made my heart drop.

The Old Windmill was MUCH bigger up close, and I knew it was gonna be big, but THIS big? It took up the space of an entire mountain!

"This place is huge! It must be quite a climb to the top..." I heard a nomad mutter.

"So, uh, kid..." I muttered, "Where exactly is the Time Piece?"

"It should be... uh..." She said hesitantly, then she giggled nervously. "If these 'flashing lights' they're all complaining about are what I think they are, then it should be... at the very top."

_**OF COURSE!**_

Why _**wouldn't **_it be?!

I shook my head and rubbed my temples.

Time to think rationally. Maybe there would be a set of stairs to the top.

I walked forward and saw a series of floating hookshot clamps leading to an outcrop in front of the windmill.

I sighed again and crossed the gap, then began climbing a ladder up to the base of the windmill. I waited a few seconds for the kid to catch up, then walked toward the entrance.

"The windmill is a tad bit large, don't you think?"

I recognized that mysterious voice and turned to see the Badge Seller standing by the entrance smirking. He was being sarcastic.

"You could say that again," I grumbled, "You knew we'd be here."

The merchant merely nodded.

"Have you come to make another purchase?" He asked.

"Might as well," I said, "How much does that whirlwind badge cost?"

"350 pons," He responded.

I felt my pockets again, and yet again, I found a lot of pons there, even though I knew for a fact I hadn't been collecting them. It was almost like they were just putting themselves into my pockets.

I quickly counted 350 pons and gave them to the merchant, who tossed me the badge. It showed a hooded figure spinning around in a circle with a torrent of air surrounding them.

I clipped it on and turned to the kid.

"You wanna buy anything?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders, then stepped forward. I stepped out of the way and observed.

He showed her a couple of badges, and she bought a badge with three different coloured stars and a blue laser on it.

She walked over to me with a grin on her face, and we waved goodbye to the merchant before finally walking inside the windmill.

First thing I did was look up, and I couldn't see much because of a wood roof.

So, I looked around the room to see if there were any stairs or whatever.

But, of course, there weren't. It seemed the only way to get up was an unnecessarily long-winded series of jumps and whatnot across a grain cart and across the windmill's main shaft.

I grumbled.

This was moronic.

"I have a question for whoever built this thing," I grumbled, "**Why?! **This makes no sense!"

I could hear the kid giggle.

"I guess whoever built this place wanted to have some fun getting to the top," The kid said, then ran to the other side of the room and climbed the boxes. Seemed she spotted the way up as well.

Oh, and, the entire windmill seemed to be infested with these damn round crows that seemed to be everywhere on this planet. Wouldn't be a problem if they weren't always eager to peck you to death with their excessively sharp beaks.

"I'm no psychologist, but I'm pretty sure only a _masochist _would consider this fun," I muttered, then ran after her for what seemed the octillionth time.

Fortunately, she waited for me on a ledge, which was on the other side of a grate (Obviously, that's why we needed to climb the boxes), and we hopped onto a moving grain cart, which took us to another ledge.

Hopping off, I ran forward and jumped onto a wooden pole jutting out of the shaft, and used the momentum to jump onto a higher ledge.

I heard the kid land beside me, but I was a bit preoccupied with what was ahead.

The next ledge was a jump's distance away, but there was a problem.

Just like that vent in the Dead Bird Studio basement, the gap was blocked off near the top, this time by a grate.

"Well that's just great," I said.

I heard the kid giggle.

"Pun not intended," I stated.

Once again, just like in the studio basement, she somehow managed to jump down and boost herself in the air to effortlessly land on the other side.

Ah, peck it. Waiting around will solve nothing.

I jumped down and flipped in midair, hoping it would give me some more vertical momentum, but something weird happened.

It gave me momentum, alright.

It felt like a galeforce wind blew me back up into the air, and I landed on the ledge more confused than ever.

The kid also seemed to be surprised. Definitely couldn't blame her.

"Well, that just happened," I deadpanned.

"That looked like it was fun!" She said.

"Methinks the Badge Seller didn't tell me everything about this badge I bought from him," I said humorously, causing her to giggle.

She suddenly ran up ahead whilst shouting "Come on!".

I sighed and ran after her.

"Kid, you can't just expect me to react that quickly!" I shouted, emerging outside of the windmill. She was already quite a ways ahead.

So, I hurried to jump across a periodically rotating box, jumped onto a grain cart rotating around a gear, then used the rotation to jump and dive across to a ledge leading back inside the windmill.

I walked inside, and she was already on the other side of the windmill, across a gap and waving at me tauntingly and smugly.

I hopped onto a grain cart which took me over there, but halfway across she took off yet again.

God, the things I do for this kid!

I hopped off the grain cart and rapidly jumped across a couple of gaps. I was able to catch up to her as she climbed on top of a wooden beam.

I could see her about to take off again.

"Can we maybe not do this?" I grumbled.

"But going slowly is boring!" She pouted.

"Going slowly will mean we'll be less likely to fall to the bottom and have to do it all over again, and also means we'll likely not waste as much energy," I stated.

She huffed.

"Now, you're pretty energetic, heh, that's an understatement," I joked, causing her to smirk. "But this is a _biiiiig _windmill, and if the climb to the top is gonna be like this all the way up, you can bet we'll both be bagged by the time we're done. So, let's just take it nice and slowly."

"Okay then, if you say so," She said.

I climbed over the wooden beam and began trudging through some seeds toward a gear with some grain carts spinning around on it, then hopped on a grain cart and jumped over a wall.

"So much for taking it slow," I heard the kid mutter, and she landed in front of me.

"Compared to how you were blazing through this place, I think this is _pretty _slow," I responded, and she smirked.

"My turn," She said, then jumped onto a grain cart, and then jumped onto another one on the other side, then jumped over a wood beam, landing back on the same grain cart, and then hopped off onto a ledge. I followed suit in doing so.

"So this is what we're doing? One person goes and then the next?" I asked. She merely shrugged her shoulders. "Alright then, I guess I'll go now."

I jumped onto a periodically rotating wood box, then jumped off onto a wood platform before the cube could rotate again.

Ahead, there was another rotating cube, so I hopped on it and jumped up onto another wooden platform sitting on a wall, and waited a few seconds for the kid to catch up.

Now that we were doing things this way, this actually seemed kinda relaxing.

She jumped ahead onto a grain cart, which was attached to a log jutting out from both walls, and a couple of grain carts came along, rotating around in the air almost like an elevator. She stepped on and it ascended her up to the next floor. She also killed a grotesquely large spider on the way up.

I hopped onto the grain cart and waited for the grain escalator to come back, then stepped on, and I hopped off on a wooden platform next to the kid.

Now that we were on the next floor, I decided to look up again.

It didn't seem all that bad.

I hopped onto a large, circular stone disc spinning around the main shaft and then jumped onto another wooden platform.

The kid did the same, and I looked at what was ahead.

There was a metal plate with some hoof marks on them, almost like a human-sized goat walljumped off of it.

I looked up and saw that above the metal plate were a few sets of sandbags leading up to a large gear.

"Now this looks like a job for me!" The kid said proudly, then jumped toward the plate and bounced off of it. She then bounced off of some of the sandbags, landing on the gear.

"Here goes nothing," I said, then jumped toward the plate and kicked off of it in an upward-ish direction, and, lo and behold, it worked. A few seconds later and I was standing on the big metal gear as well.

I looked to see a wooden platform sticking out of the wall, and let the gear spin me around, using the momentum to jump across the gap, then I climbed up on top of the platform. Obviously, the kid did the same.

Remember how I thought this was actually kinda relaxing now?

I was beginning to breathe heavily.

It seemed I underestimated my stamina. By quite a bit.

No matter. I made it this far, I'd make it to the top.

I turned around and saw the kid standing on a blue platform rotating around a gear, then watched her jump across to a green platform jutting out of the opposite wall.

I waited for a platform to come by and hopped on, then jumped across. It was not enough.

Well, time to see if my theory was correct.

I flipped in midair, and sure enough, another gust of wind pushed me higher into the air, and I landed on the platform with ease.

It was just odd that the Badge Seller would hide something like that. Why? You'd think he'd have wanted me to know so I'd be more encouraged to buy it. Maybe he wanted to see my surprise to it? But we rarely crossed paths. Maybe he forgot? No, he wasn't a forgetful person.

"Are we gonna keep climbing or do ya wanna stand around all day?"

Oh, right.

"Sorry," I said.

There was a small green wooden beam jutting out parallel to the wall, and I sidestepped across it toward a set of grain carts with buttons on them.

I walked on the cart to the right, and I heard the button click.

I looked over and saw the other cart move ahead slightly.

Interesting.

The kid jumped across to the other cart, landing on the button.

I felt the cart shift, and looked ahead to watch out for obstructions.

Good thing I did!

I jumped over a log and barely landed back on the cart. I stepped around the button and looked around for somewhere the kid could stand so she wouldn't have to risk faceplanting into the log.

I saw a small wooden platform suspended from the ceiling and pointed toward it. She nodded and jumped on it, so I pressed the button, sending the left cart forward.

However, it went just behind another grate.

"Again?" I hissed.

I turned to the kid and motioned her forward. She jumped onto the right grain cart as well.

"Ok, if one of us jumps across then they'll probably step on the button, and the person staying back here will have to be lightning fast or they'll fall down," I stated, "That's not something we can have happen now."

She nodded.

"You go," She said.

"You sure?" I questioned.

She then proceeded to attack the air suddenly with her umbrella with bravado.

"You know me, I'm faster than light!" She stated with conviction.

Faster than light.

I smirked.

"Alright, kid. Be careful," I warned, then turned to the other cart.

"I'm always careful," She bragged.

"You know that I know that's a lie," I said, chuckling, then jumped across.

I landed on the left grain cart, once again thanks to the badge, and felt the button click beneath my foot.

I turned around and the kid was already jumping across, and she landed in front of me. However, there wasn't enough room on the cart and she began to fall backward.

I grabbed her by the wrist and hopped off the grain cart before that could happen.

"It's a good thing we took that slowly, eh?" I stated.

"Yeah, yeah," She said, "Thank you."

"Of course," I replied, then looked ahead. A few wooden platforms were in front of us, and we both climbed up them.

I looked up and saw a grain cart that we'd need to jump up on, but it was definitely too high up to do so.

I then saw two grain carts tilted vertically moving from left to right across the room, just tall enough that we'd maybe be able to climb up them and onto the grain cart we needed to jump up on.

"What a disaster," I ranted, "How do they expect to do repairs and maintenance when the time comes? What, is every mechanic on this planet also an expert gymnast or parkourist?"

"_Maaaybe?_" The kid muttered, "Maybe we'll find out at the top. I'll go first."

When the two grain carts came back around, she jumped toward then and climbed up them, then climbed on top of the other grain cart with ease.

Considering my height, I decided to try something a bit different.

I waited for the moving grain cart wall to come back around, then jumped toward it and grabbed the top of it, then pulled myself up and kicked off as soon as possible toward where the kid was waiting.

It barely worked, and I grabbed onto the ledge. I quickly pulled myself up.

The kid jumped over to another grain cart, and I followed her after catching my breath for a few seconds.

Now I was beginning to feel exhausted.

But I would have to keep pushing through.

I jumped over to a wooden platform that was jutting outside of the windmill a bit, pulled myself up, and hopped on a spring, which bounced me up to the third floor.

I re-entered the windmill once again, and decided to look up once again.

It seemed we were very near the top.

I could see the main windmill crankshaft, where it'd be converting all that rotational energy into grain-grinding power.

More of those stupid crows also seemed to have nested up here, but they were far away so I saw no reason to bother them.

I saw the kid standing on top of a stone basket. I watched her jump toward and kick off of two moving grain carts, then climb up on top of a wood platform.

I ran over and did the same.

She then jumped over to a larger wooden platform jutting out of a wall, then jumped on top of a grain cart. She then jumped onto another grain cart and let it take her to a green wooden ledge. Once again, I followed suit.

I peered through a large circular hole in the wall out into the world below. What caught my eye was a hookshot clamp, which just made things even more confusing.

Regardless, I saw a platform to swing toward, so I jumped out of the windmill, clamped onto the hookshot clamp, and swung off of it, landing on the platform effortlessly.

I waited for the kid to do the same.

I then jumped onto another wooden platform, jumped onto a periodically rotating cube, and jumped back inside the windmill, landing on a wooden platform.

However, I landed on my knees. An out-of-place metallic taste was beginning to formulate in my mouth, and my chest was beginning to hurt. True signs of exhaustion.

The kid landed next to me, and her smile shifted into a frown of concern. She tilted her head, which meant she was probably asking me if I was alright.

"I'll be fine. Just gimme a minute or two," I muttered, "This is more tiring than I had anticipated."

"Maybe you should just stay here. I can go get the Time Piece," She suggested.

"No, it's fine. I mean, I made it this far up, might as well see what's at the top. I just need a few minutes," I stated.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay then. I'll jump ahead a little bit," She said, then hopped onto a grain cart.

A few seconds later, I looked around and saw her on the other side of the windmill next to an opening outside, twirling her umbrella around.

I felt better, so I got up and hopped across some grain carts over to her.

I knew it was odd for me to have recovered some energy so quickly, but I just assumed it was a property of this universe that was affecting me. Kinda like the badges, I suppose.

She walked outside of the windmill and jumped across a gap, and I followed. She jumped onto a wooden platform built into a cliff, and so did I.

I climbed up the cliff face, ending up on top of it, and then I jumped onto a spring that was, weirdly enough, set on top of a tree.

I landed on the top of this small peak, and walked over to a wooden ledge. I saw a hookshot clamp leading to a shorter peak, and swung across, landing in the center of the peak.

I heard a strange noise, and turned to see a large egg shoot out of the ground. It began to make very strange noises, which was already making me uncomfortable, but then it began to come toward me!

The sounds it were making almost made it sound like a timebomb!

I jumped over it, ran over to a grain cart built into the side of a taller cliff, and hopped on.

**BANG!**

I looked down, and sure enough, where the egg last was, I now saw bits and pieces of egg.

I hopped off of the grain cart, then sat down. I needed to think about that.

Okay.

So.

An egg just popped out of the ground and _walked toward me, __**THEN EXPLODED!**_

_What... The... Hell?_

There was absolutely no way that could've been a crow egg, at least not a natural one. Nah. The masochists who built this goddamn place must've somehow engineered that egg to do just that.

Holy shit.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and saw the kid smirking at me.

"Having fun?" She asked mockingly.

"Oh yes," I replied sarcastically, "I'm having a _**swell **_time."

She snickered, and I stood up. I turned to see what was ahead. Two crows and another one of those freak-show eggs.

I saw a bridge connecting this peak to another one, so I just ran across, and I looked behind me to see a crow bump into the egg, killing itself.

I chuckled.

"Dumber than a box of rocks," I taunted the dead bird.

Speaking of which, two more birds were approaching. One big baton swipe and they were both dealt with.

I hopped across a rotating cube suspended between two cliffs and landed on a wooden platform, then climbed up onto another wooden platform. I saw two rotating cubes ahead, but decided to wait for the kid.

She caught up quickly, as would be expected, then immediately hopped across the cubes and onto a wooden platform. I did the same.

We hopped down some wooden platforms, and saw a way back into the windmill, which we jumped and dove over to.

We both entered the windmill immediately upon landing.

I could feel myself getting more and more tired by the second, but I knew we were very near the top.

I wouldn't quit now.

Willpower alone would keep me going.

I hopped onto a grain cart, which took me over to the opposite end of the windmill.

I saw a spider descend from the ceiling and whacked it, then when the cart momentarily stopped, I hopped onto a blue platform rotating around a gear.

I waited for the perfect moment, then jumped off onto a green wooden platform jutting out from the corner.

The kid wasn't far behind, cause I heard her land like 5 seconds later.

She jumped onto a wooden platform built into a rotating stone gear, then waited and jumped onto another wooden platform built into another rotating stone gear. She then jumped onto another green platform sticking out of the adjacent corner of where I was.

I imitated what she did and landed next to her, then hopped onto a grain cart that was tilted slightly upward.

I looked up, and sure enough, another spider was dangling from the ceiling. The grain cart began moving again, and when the spider came down it was instantly met with a baton smack.

I hopped off onto another platform, waited for the kid, then hopped onto a gear.

From there, I hopped onto another wooden platform, waited for the kid again, then jumped onto a blue gear platform again.

I saw another gear with a platform on it, but took a shortcut and hopped toward a wood platform jutting out of the adjacent wall.

I sat down for a minute and watched the kid land on the platform.

Ahead, there were two vertical metal gears rotating around, one above the other, with a lot of blue platforms attached to them. Seemed that would be the way up.

The kid hopped on one of the platforms, then hopped onto a platform of the upper gear. I then followed suit.

She was waiting on a wood platform, which I hopped on.

I then jumped onto a wooden platform rotating around yet another stone gear, waited for it to bring me to the other side, then bounced off of a series of sandbags onto the main crankshaft.

I almost lost my footing, so I carefully made my way right behind the vanes, then hopped onto a nest placed on a small wood beam. I watched the vanes, and they had wooden platforms built into the backs of them.

I waited for the kid.

"Let's do this at the same time," I suggested, and she nodded.

I watched a vane go around, and when it was just about to come around..

"Okay, 3... 2... 1... go," I said, and we both hopped on the wooden platform.

I stumbled around and waved my arms for balance.

"Woah," I said.

At the top of the rotation, a large wooden plank jutted out from the wall. I already knew what to do, and I hopped toward it, then climbed up on top of it.

The kid decided to wait for the next rotation before attempting to wallclimb up to where I was. Smart.

I decided to peer down at the ground.

A chill went down my spine.

This windmill must've been a good hundred meters tall. Probably more, way more.

I stepped back so I couldn't fall over, then turned around and walked inside the windmill for the last time.

I grinned from ear to ear at what I saw.

A Time Piece, just like the kid said.

I saw her enter, and she immediately navigated toward it and grabbed it.

She then navigated back to me, and I sat down.

"Well, I dunno about you, kid, but first thing I'm doing is taking a nap," I muttered, and she nodded with a tired smile.

We walked outside the windmill, and she held the Time Piece up to the sky.

She grabbed my hand, and a flash of blue later, we were back in the spaceship.

I immediately walked over to my hammock and flopped in.

That's the last thing I remember.

This was just the first Time Piece. I knew there'd be one at each peak. If climbing the _first _peak, the one that would probably end up being the _easiest, _was that exhaustive and troublesome...

Well, I at least knew for a fact I'd be getting some good sleep.


	35. Chapter 34: A Taste Of Hell

Chapter 34: A Taste Of Hell

**A/N: I took a long time again. Whatever. I wanted to try writing a story for another game. So far it's not going too well, practically nobody is reading it. Well, I shouldn't be surprised, considering there were only 2 other stories written for said game. Check it out if you wanna, but it's cool if you don't wanna.**

***Ahem* Anyway... onto the reviews.**

**Katoptris12: I'm sure it will be, especially with all those Dweller platforms and bells. It'll sure be grief for me trying to write it.**

**Avatarcatz2323: Thank you, I appreciate it. Also, that's a **_**really **_**good idea. I was considering doing that but I was worried that it'd be considered boring, lazy, or... well... 'half-assed', I suppose. But I guess I'll try it and see how it turns out.**

I woke up later, feeling oddly full of energy. I got up, and realized that it seemed rather quiet on the ship.

Kid must've still been sleeping.

To make sure of this, I walked into her bedroom and saw a note. I picked it up and read it.

"Yesterday I saw how you _really _didn't like being in that place and how you had some trouble with all the jumping and whatever, so I decided to give you a break and go to the Birdhouse by myself. I hope you don't mind. -Hat Kid"

I dropped the note and huffed.

So, for what seemed like the billionth time, she was basically leaving me behind to not get in her way.

I grumbled and returned to the main hub.

No, I wasn't mad at her, rather at myself. I was keeping her behind, when she was _clearly _talented enough to get around the place herself.

Oh, it was a good decision on her part, to leave me behind. That's why I wasn't mad at her. Besides, it's impossible to stay mad at that kid anyway.

But if only I wasn't such a useless moron, I could've gone with her and made sure she didn't get herself killed. Not that she needed protection, I saw what she could do, but I made a promise.

A promise I intended to keep.

Well, there was no point in going down. She was probably _way _ahead, and even if she wasn't, I knew there was no way I would've caught up with her. Besides, she probably would've been pretty mad if I did.

So, I had no choice but to sit down and wait impatiently for her return, which I promptly did.

I heard her return minutes later.

She walked out of the engine room and smiled nervously.

"You're up?" She asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Did you...?" She asked again.

"I read your note, kid. I'm not mad," I muttered, "I'd have only kept you back."

She sighed, clearly relieved. She then ran over to me and hugged me.

"Thank you for understanding," She said.

I took off her hat and ruffled her hair, causing her to giggle.

"Of course, kid," I said, plopping her hat back on. "Where do you plan on going next?" I asked.

"The Lava Cake!" She beamed.

I frowned.

"Alright, but I'm coming with you," I stated, causing her to frown. Before she could respond, I put up a finger to silence her. "I understand why you'd prefer me to stay back, but it's a _literal _cake made of _molten rock. _It'll be dangerous. I'm not gonna let you go to such a hazardous place unsupervised."

"You know I could use the 'it'll be dangerous' excuse too, right?" She grumbled.

"Yes, and I know you're far better at this kind of thing than me. Heh, you're better than me at _everything. _I know this. But I don't really care. I'm coming with you, like it or not," I stated.

She sighed.

"Fine," She said, "But we're not leaving yet."

"Alright," I muttered.

So, we did practically nothing for the next hour, then we teleported down to the goat village. I looked around and saw the zipline off to the right, a few hookshot clamps floating in place to cross the gap, which we did.

I stood next to the zipline and looked out at the looming mounds of molten death and charred objects that seemed to lead to the Lava Cake. I was actually beginning to doubt whether or not this 'Lava Cake' was truly made out of magma, as that would be one _**HELL**_ of a feat to pull off.

Well, real or not, I knew that this was going to be a hellish time for me.

"Well, here goes nothing," I said, and clamped onto the zipline. Once again, I took off down the zipline faster than a speeding bullet.

I instantly noticed the blast of heat as I zoomed down the zipline. I landed on a cliff, waited for the kid, then I almost jumped toward another cliff before I noticed how large the gap was.

As if I was gonna make that jump!

Just then, a spider descended from nowhere in the center of the gap.

"Aha!" The kid beamed, then jumped straight toward the spider.

"What are you doing?" I asked, then she did a pose in midair and careened into the spider, crushing it and giving her a boost, allowing her to cross the gap.

She landed and turned to me, then struck a pose and said "Ta-da!" happily.

"And you expect me to do that?" I asked, and she nodded.

Just wonderful...

Welp, standing around grumbling wasn't gonna solve anything.

Again, from nowhere, a spider descended in the exact same spot. Almost like it didn't just watch one of its kind get killed by the kid.

I jumped off, but instead of attempting to do what the kid did, I landed on the spider and jumped off, which worked beautifully. I landed next to the kid with ease.

"See?" She said, "Ya need to believe in yourself more!"

"Maybe," I responded.

I scanned our surroundings and saw two ziplines, one to the left and one to the right.

But which one would lead to the cake?

I saw a nomad standing in front of us and approached them.

They seemed to grin at us.

"This heat is great!" They exclaimed, "It's even hotter to the right!"

I tried to stifle a groan and failed.

This heat was already uncomfortable, and it only gets hotter?

It's almost like this entire mountain range was inhabited by total masochists. Why anyone would want to run through a miniature version of hell _for fun_ was something I just couldn't grasp.

The only good thing was that they'd just indirectly told us where to go.

We both walked over to the right and saw a few spiders that we could bounce across to get to the zipline, and that's what we did.

I walked up to the zipline and saw another nomad awaiting us.

"This way to the Lava Cake!" They shouted.

I nodded in appreciation and took off down the zipline.

When I landed, I didn't notice a big change in temperature. That nomad must've meant further down the line.

Just then, I thought of something and facepalmed.

Why the hell didn't we think to take any water with us?!

When the kid landed, I turned to her and frowned.

She gave me a look of: 'What's wrong?'.

"We didn't take any water with us," I grumbled.

She frowned as well, put a hand to her chin thoughtfully, then smiled.

"We're not gonna stay here for long anyway!" She said happily.

"I don't wanna pass out from heat exhaustion in this place," I stated, "And I _most certainly _wouldn't wanna see that happening to you either."

"You don't have to worry about me," She said, "I can handle heat a lot better than you can. We both know this. Oh, and, maybe that sweater will help you with the heat, too!"

"Wearing clothing to protect against the cold helping against the heat? Sounds reasonable to me," I said jokingly, "Well, whatever. Let's keep moving."

We both proceeded to hop and climb our way up to the top of the set of peaks we were on, but along the way a strange bird with a pompous haircut and shades kept bumping into us. We had to attack it to get it off of us.

However, we made it to the top and saw the next zipline ahead, which we both hooked onto and zoomed along.

Along the zipline, the air actually seemed to cool down a bit. The wind became cool again.

But I looked at our destination and knew that this small bit of respite would soon be over.

The Lava Cake was dead ahead, and it looked just the way its name described it: a huge cake made of molten rock.

When we landed, I could immediately feel the aura of heat emanating not only from the outcrop which we stood on, but the colossal cake in front of us. There was no way in hell it wasn't real lava.

And that just made me all the more terrified.

"This is the Lava Cake!" A nomad boasted.

"How...?" I said.

"Who knows?" The nomad responded, "This thing is hundreds, maybe thousands of years old, after all. Maybe technology? Maybe magic? But nobody knows."

I shook my head and surveilled our surroundings again.

The outcrop that we were on seemed to be used as a hot spring, which would partially explain why everyone would go through such misery to get to this place. Surely there'd be no one IN the cake, though. I also saw a pillar that seemed to be sinking into the water. The kid was already standing on it and was giggling as it bobbed up and down.

I hopped onto said pillar and waited for it to rise, and when it did, I hopped onto a higher level of the outcrop. The kid followed suit.

A much larger hot spring covered the entirety of this level, and it was occupied by some crows. I saw another pillar and hopped on, and when it rose I hopped off and landed next to a steam cannon pointed directly at the cake.

The kid landed next to me, and I took a deep breath.

Looks like we'd be getting a taste of hell.

"Well, are you ready?" I asked nervously.

"Nope!" She said nonchalantly, "Are you?"

"Are you kidding me? Definitely not," I grumbled.

"But sitting around all day won't do anything," She stated.

"Right," I agreed.

"Ladies first!" She shouted, then hopped in the cannon, which tilted slightly upward and launched her into the cake.

Why'd she always have to be so sudden?!

I hopped in the cannon as well, and it launched me as well.

When I landed, the air immediately felt like it was burning.

I took off my hood, and the heat became even more intense, so I put it back on. So the hood actually did help.

It wasn't _as_ bad as I had been expecting, but it was still horrendous. If we stuck around for too long, we'd get hyperthermia, pass out, and die. There were no doubts about that.

The kid was fanning herself with her umbrella and had her ice hat on.

"Let's make this as short as physically possible!" I shouted, and she nodded.

I quickly scanned the scenery for a way up, and saw a cannon on the other side of the cake. I also saw that there were more crows inside this cake, but they were _on fire _and _didn't even care!_

I saw a path of sinking pillars leading to the next cannon, and we proceeded to make our way to it. I hopped into the cannon, which somehow wasn't melting or even felt all that hot, and it blasted me up to the next level.

I expected to feel ground beneath my feet, but only caught air. I looked around and saw some hookshot clamps ahead and hooked onto them. **Then **I landed on the ground.

I saw three pillars as a sort of bridge leading to the next rock platform, and ran across them.

Where was the kid?

I turned around, and she was on a completely separate platform, holding a piece of yarn.

I stomped my foot and growled.

"Hey!" I shouted, "Are we collecting yarn or getting this Time Piece?"

She quickly made her way over to me, and I looked for the way to the next cannon whilst panting from the heat.

I saw another path to the next cannon and took off. However, halfway along the way, I heard a nomad speaking.

"Hi! This is clearly a safe place to bring a child!" They said, clearly mocking me.

"I don't have the time or the patience for this shit," I hissed at the nomad, then continued trekking along.

I stopped at the cannon and turned to see the kid talking uncomfortably with the nomad. Knowing her, she was probably explaining everything.

I whistled to catch her attention, and she caught up, then hopped into the cannon.

Normally I wouldn't be so hasty or rude, but there was no time for fun. This place was a hellhole. Nothing more, nothing less. If we stayed here, we would die. Simple as that. I was already beginning to feel exhausted from the heat.

I hopped into the cannon as well, which shot me up through a hole in the lava up to the third level.

The kid had used her ice hat and had gone over to another platform with a zipline leading out of the cake.

She turned to me and pointed at the zipline.

Absolutely not.

I frowned and shook my head. She frowned and bounced back with her ice hat over to me.

"I'd be all for going and exploring if we weren't in a giant fiery death trap. We can explore other places," I stated, "I think that's pretty logical."

She nodded, and we continued along. Somehow, there were raccoons floating in the air, completely asleep, which made no sense. How would the heat not awaken them? How were they floating in the air in the first place?

Regardless, we carried along and made it to the fourth level.

I quickly looked up and sighed with relief. This would be over shortly.

We hopped along some unstable platforms, more sinking pillars, avoided more fauna, and swung across more hookshot clamps to get to the last cannon.

I jumped in, and when I landed, my eyes immediately locked on the glowing hourglass sitting in the center of the cake on an elevated rock platform. And it was surrounded by metal bars on three sides, because why wouldn't it be?!

I looked to the right and saw a series of sinking pillars leading to the opening in the walls.

We hurriedly hopped along these pillars and landed next to the Time Piece.

I landed first, so I grabbed the Time Piece.

The kid landed, so I grabbed her hand and immediately sent us back to the ship.

What a pecking disaster!

At least it was over with, thank the cosmos or whatever!

I gave the Time Piece to the kid and quietly made my way to the kitchen of the ship. I got out two glasses and filled them both to the brim with water. When the kid walked in, I handed her one and grabbed the other. I then downed the whole thing in, like, five seconds.

I sighed.

I decided to have a nice, cold shower, then after that I decided to just lay down and rest for a bit.

While I was resting, I thought to myself.

So, we did the Windmill and the Lava Cake, and the kid went off and did the Birdhouse by herself. That meant only the Twilight Bell would be remaining.

'Oh, it's just a big bell, getting to the Time Piece should be a piece of cake!' One might've said.

Ha, as if.

The Windmill and the Lava Cake were both hellish to traverse. Well, the Windmill was tame compared to the Lava Cake.

I knew better than to let my guard down.

I had no idea what to expect, but I knew to expect just as much misery as the other two, if not more.

We didn't even know the exact location of the Time Piece.

Something was gonna happen. Something _**big.**_

I'd have to be ready for it.


	36. Chapter 35: Ancient

Chapter 35: Ancient

**A/N: Some weird crap is about to happen this next two chapters. I'll try to get the next chapter out lightning-fast, but I can't guarantee that's gonna happen. But enough with the negativity, enjoy the chapter.**

I woke up with a splitting headache.

I flopped onto the floor with a groan and clutched my forehead. It legitimately felt like an axe was lodged in my skull.

I sat up and continued to clutch my forehead whilst grumbling and muttering a variety of different cursewords.

A few minutes later and I heard a door open.

"Are you okay?"

I looked up and the kid was staring at me with deep concern.

The only thing I could mutter was "Headache."

She ran off, and I continued to sit in misery.

She returned shortly later with a pill.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What's that?" I asked.

She gave me a confused look.

"For your headache," She muttered like it was obvious, "Don't tell me you didn't have medicine for aches and pains back at your home!"

"Of course I did. I was just making sure," I grumbled, and she gave it to me. I quickly consumed it.

She smiled and said: "You'll feel better soon."

And I did. A few minutes later and the headache vanished.

"So, I guess there's only one place left to go to," I stated.

"The Twilight Bell," She said.

"Yeah. Who knows what we'll find there?" I grumbled.

"A Time Piece," She answered.

"But what will be in between us and that Time Piece? Something's gonna happen. I just know it," I muttered.

"Stop being so paranoid," She complained, "You worry about _everything!_"

"I'm being realistic," I countered, "I know that doesn't make me fun to be around, but hey, **someone **needs to keep us down to earth."

"But we're in a spaceship?" She said.

"Oh, come on, kid. You know what I meant," I said with a smirk, and she crossed her arms.

I frowned.

"Okay, maybe I _am_ being a bit, well, paranoid, as you said, but let's recall what's happened on our adventure so far," I stated, "Mafia Town: The Mafia Boss tried killing both of us, and Moustache Girl betrayed you and set the whole town on fire. Dead Bird Studio: Both directors force us to be in their extremely dangerous movies with no pay and DJ Grooves backstabs us, and _literally _stabbed me. Oh, and, don't get me started on Subcon Fo-"

"Yes, okay, I get it," She said, clearly irritated, "This has been dangerous, you don't need to remind me. But you're assuming that a _big, stone bell _is gonna be dangerous. Doesn't that seem kinda dumb to you?"

...

I couldn't counter that one.

"You have a point," I muttered.

She smiled.

"See?" She said, "And even if it _is _dangerous, we've gone through all that danger and we're still here. We can take on anything!"

"I guess so," I half-agreed, "But I'm just gonna say one thing."

She tilted her head, silently asking "And what's that?"

"Don't get cocky, kid," I warned, "We've still got lots to go through."

She smiled and nodded.

We went into the engine room and teleported down to the Goat Village.

Only then did I think of something.

"Wait, kid," I muttered, "Why couldn't we just teleport directly to the bell?"

"Because we haven't been there yet," She responded.

I tilted my head. Well, it made sense in a way.

We navigated around to the green-bannered zipline and zoomed off toward toward the mystical grey stone cliffs that the Twilight Bell rested in.

When we landed, I walked across a bridge to another cliff and looked up to immediately notice a problem.

I looked up and to the right and saw where we needed to go: an elevated cliff that we'd in no way, shape, or form be able to jump to.

However, there were some platforms to get to said cliff, but there was a problem.

The platforms were ethereal. And there was no Dweller bell to ring.

I heard the kid mutter a "huh?" and turned to see her looking at the platforms. Clearly she noticed the problem as well.

"Well, what do we do about this?" I asked.

She put a hand to her thin thoughtfully, then grinned and snapped her fingers.

"Aha!" She said, "That reminds me!"

"Of?" I said, then she fumbled around in her pockets and pulled out a bunch of yarn, then she threw it all up in the air and twirled her umbrella through it all.

"1... 2... presto!"

A mask like the ones the Dwellers wear was now in her grasp, and she switched from her top hat to put on the mask.

She ran toward the platforms and jumped off before I could stop her, and an aura emerged from her, turning the platforms real. A few seconds later and she was standing on the cliff clapping her hands in joy.

"Great, kid!" I shouted, "Now what about me?!"

Something happened that hadn't happened since Subcon Forest.

I felt an all too familiar presence.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and when I turned around, no one was there. I heard a faint chuckle as the presence disappeared.

However, I had to shield my eyes because the sun was reflecting off of something into my eye.

Wait...

I looked down at the ground toward the reflective object and picked it up.

It was a very strange object. It was a tiny hook with a tiny, dark purple gem attached to the end of it. The gem had various objects dangling from three strings attached to it, and the central string had a bell hanging from the end of it. The object also released an aura that reminded me of Subcon Forest and the Dwellers, which made me wonder...

I clutched the charm in my hand.

Well, it was worth a shot. I could always save myself if I fell.

I jumped and boosted toward the platform, and found myself landing on it instead of falling.

I looked at the charm, and the bell was glowing green and emanating an aura just like the larger bells.

This wouldn't last long, however.

I quickly hopped toward the other platform and jumped toward the cliff, landing next to the kid as the aura faded.

I looked down at the charm again, and the kid snatched it and examined it.

"What is this?" She asked, "It looks so weird! And pretty!"

"It's a charm," I answered.

"Like magic?" She questioned.

"Well, I think they can be multi-purpose, but this one... yes, like magic," I muttered, "But I can't hold onto it forever. Especially with that hook on the end."

"I could try to put it in your hair!" She suggested, "I could tie your hair around the hook so that it'd stay there!"

I should've known she would say that...

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea, kid," I said uncomfortably.

"Come on!" She pouted, "I think it'll look good on you! Please?"

I huffed.

"Fine."

I sat down and took my hood off. I heard her quietly say "yes!" and she began to try putting it in my hair.

However, she wasn't exactly being careful, and it felt more like she was trying to tear the hair out of my head.

"Ay, kid! What are you doing?" I hissed.

"Patience!" She said.

A few seconds more of having my hair being violently yanked and it was over.

"Tada!" She said, and I felt something hanging from the side of my head. I stood up and turned to her.

"Well, how do I look?" I asked miserably.

She smiled and put a hand to her chin. I guessed she was trying to formulate the rights words to say.

"You look... cool!" She said.

'Cool'?

Well, I guess I'll take it.

I could see an idea appear on her face and she slowly began to smirk, until she had adopted the most smug look I've ever seen on her face.

"Or should I say... _charming?_" She said contently.

She just made a pun. Wow.

"Ha, ha, _very funny_," I muttered sarcastically, "Truly the queen of comedy." She began to giggle.

"Well I can joke with you later. Come on!" She exclaimed, then jumped forward.

"She seems like quite the character!" I heard an accented voice say, and turned to a nomad.

"You have no idea," I responded.

"Well, be sure to keep an eye on her!" They advised, "The Twilight Bell is just ahead!"

I nodded in thanks and jumped after the kid. She'd already made her way further ahead and was standing next to a bell underneath an ethereal green tower.

I made my way to her, the charm activating on its own whenever it was needed. Strangely, it didn't activate near the bell.

The kid pointed up in the air toward a cliff, and I could barely make out a zipline on top of it.

She then counted down from three and rang the bell, and we scurried to the top of the tower and jumped onto the cliff.

Hmm... still strange that the charm never activated while that happened. Unless being near a bell deactivated it. But why would it do that? Shouldn't it make it stronger, not turn it off?

"Hello? Who are you talking to?" The kid said, clearly confused.

I must have been muttering my thoughts aloud.

I turned to the zipline and responded with "Nobody. I was just thinking."

She seemed like she was about to say something, then shook her head and smiled. "Okay, Mr. Thinks-a-lot, let's go!" She taunted.

"Please don't ever call me that again," I grumbled, but she had already taken off on the zipline. I sighed and went after her.

I could see the colossal stone bell looming in the distance and that we'd be arriving on a cliff under it.

When I landed, I looked up into the bell and was surprised by what I saw.

Nothing. It looked like a black hole. Void. Empty. Nothingness.

"Oh, so that must be why it's called the Twilight Bell," I whispered.

This place was... something else. It had an aura of reverence to it that I simply couldn't describe. The place felt ancient, like it had been there since the dawn of Time.

The entire place was silent. Nothing dared to break the silence.

I looked around for the Time Piece and saw nothing.

I turned to the kid.

"What do we do?" I whispered, "The Time Piece isn't here."

"I can sense it," She whispered back, "I think it's inside the bell."

Inside it? In that void of nothingness?

"How do we get inside it, then?" I asked silently.

"I think we have to ring the bell," She answered.

A lump formed in my throat.

I knew something would happen if we rung that bell.

Why else would this be the only deathly-silent place in the whole mountain range?

Well, we had no other choice.

I walked forward.

"Quite a breathtaking place, isn't it?" I heard a voice whisper.

I turned to see the Badge Seller standing there. Even he was whispering.

"It's like nothing else I've seen," I whispered back.

"That may be... until you ring the bell," The merchant responded, "Would you like to make another purchase?"

"I doubt I can afford any of the badges you have left," I grumbled silently.

"Actually," He said, "Because you've both been such great customers, I'm giving you a discount."

Right. He said he'd be willing to give a discount.

"How big of a discount?" I asked.

"33% off a badge of your choice," He answered.

Hmm.

"How much did that Shadow Badge cost again?" I muttered.

"Before, it was 1,500 pons. But with your discount, that is a meager 1,000," He said.

I quickly fumbled around in my pockets and spent some time counting how many pons I had. I still had no idea how I was subconsciously collecting them. It was seriously like they were putting themselves in my pockets.

Hm.

Or someone was doing it for me.

But likely not.

I counted 524 pons. Barely over halfway.

I felt a tug on my sleeve and turned to see the kid smiling. She handed me some bags that were full of pons.

"476 pons, the exact amount you need," She stated.

She'd been counting as well.

I smiled.

"Wow, thanks kid," I said, "Remind me to pay you back sometime."

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

I turned to the Badge Seller, who was checking the time on a very strange looking pocket watch, and handed him the large amount of money.

"Finally I can get rid of this," He muttered, then handed me the badge with a smile.

"What do you mean 'get rid of' it?" I asked.

"The Shadow Badge is special. It's a _very _dark badge with even darker powers. I sold it to you because I think... no, I know you can tame it," He said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

The Badge Seller sighed.

"I think I have to teach you something," He said, "Some badges... are special. Certain badges are stronger than others. All badges are unique, but the very strongest badges in the Universe all have one thing in common. These badges, the Ultra Badges as badge connoisseurs like to call them, all have minds of their own. The Shadow Badge is one of them. Wearing one of them is risky: if the badge does not accept a person to be their user, then the wearer will have a variety of horrible things happen to them because of the badge."

"Now you tell me this?!" I hissed.

"Patience, my friend," He said, "However, if the badge accepts their user, then the badge will bestow its powers onto them, so long as the badge is equipped. However, the user will often need to keep the badge in check. After all, the badge still has a mind of its own and will often do its own things."

I looked at the kid, who seemed just as befuddled as me.

"Now, I would not have sold you that badge if I knew it would cast you out. That would be a _horrible _thing to do, possibly worse than killing someone. I know for a fact that this badge is inclined toward you," He said, "And I know you would use it for good."

"So... you think I'm the 'chosen one' for this badge?" I asked jokingly.

He nodded dead seriously. "Yes, exactly that," He said.

I stared blankly at him.

"If you do not wish to wear the badge, then you do not have to. It is your choice," He stated.

I looked down in awe at the badge in my hand, and I examined the barely visible hood logo in the shade.

It was like the badge was made for me.

I smirked.

Using the darkness to serve the light. Heh, it sounded like something from a video game.

But I had other things to worry about other than becoming 'Shadow-Man'.

I pocketed the badge and turned to the kid.

"Well, that was interesting," I whispered, and she nodded. "But I think we've taken long enough. Let's go ring that thing already."

She grinned, nodded, and jumped onto a platform directly beneath the bell.

There was a rope hanging from the bell's clapper with a hook on the end, and the kid pointed her umbrella at it.

I jumped onto the same platform, closed my eyes, and covered my ears as the clanging began to echo through the whole mountain range.

I prepared for anything.

But I wasn't prepared for what I saw.


	37. Chapter 36: Another World

Chapter 36: Another World

**A/N: Here I am, back with another chapter. Was gonna do this sooner but some of my favourite games are getting halloween events going and whatnot so I was busy with that. **

**Oh, and, you can expect me to be writing a halloween chapter for this story. I feel like it would be a crime not to.**

**But without further ado, enjoy the chapter.**

My jaw dropped as I found myself in another world. In all directions, there was nothing but void. Everything seemed to have an otherworldy glow or aura, like what the Dwellers of Subcon had.

Ahead laid a vast stone complex floating in the void, and on random floating... aqueducts, I could see some goats watching us that seemed to be made of stars.

I looked at the kid, who seemed just as awestruck as I was. She looked at me.

"What is this place?" She asked.

"I honestly don't know," I answered, "But I think... this is... like... the realm of the goat ancients or something."

The kid put on her top hat, closed her eyes, and she immediately looked off toward the complex.

"It's here," She said, "We need to move."

I nodded, and we set off.

We hopped over to a platform and swung off of some hookshot clamps, but were stopped when the bridge to the next platform was a green Dweller one.

"I still don't get this," I said, "There must be some sort of connection between this place and Subcon Forest for there to be bells and whatnot here. Now I really wanna know the tale of the goats."

She shrugged her shoulders, then she smiled.

"That reminds me! I still need to show you my storybooks!" She said happily.

"What?" I said.

"I got storybooks from some Time Rifts but I never got to show you them," She said.

I didn't understand it, so I just shook my head.

"Anyway..." I said, "I'll go first."

I willed my new charm to activate and ran across the bridge before it deactivated, and soon after the kid did the same with her mask.

"Let's keep moving," I muttered.

And we did just that. We hopped across some large green blocks and a normal stone block, but stopped when we landed inside a red aura emanating from a red bell.

I heard something on the side of my head and felt the charm. I willed it to activate, and it wouldn't.

"What's wrong with this thing?" I asked.

Oh, wait.

"This stupid bell is screwing with the charm," I grumbled.

"Obviously," The kid said, "Look."

She pointed at some green blocks that were partially inside the aura. Where the aura touched them, they fizzled out into a red mess.

I stepped out of the aura and activated the charm, and sure enough, it only activated the parts outside of the bell.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder," I stated, "Well, let's not dwell on this. We need to keep moving."

She nodded, and we kept forward. After a short series of hops and some walking, we found our way into a branching path. At the center was a green bell and in front of us was a green wall in front of a locked door. To the left and right there were purple walls impeding our progress.

The kid saw the bell as well and whacked it, which made the aura rapidly expand and stay put.

Interesting.

I felt something bash into my head and turned to see a freaking green raccoon floating back up into the air.

"What is _this?!_" I hissed. It came back down and I bashed it in the head.

Now that I wasn't gonna be rudely interrupted again, I looked over to the left again and saw a platforming path leading to who-knows-where. To the right seemed to be the same.

"Alright, here's what we should do: I go left, you go right," I stated, and she nodded.

She went off to the right, and I hopped over to the left. There was a purple bridge leading ahead with a red bell in the center. I just jumped over the gap it made and kept going.

Then, ahead, two red bells were patrolling on a large purple area. However, I could see that there was a yarn off in the corner beneath it.

I waited for the perfect moment and hopped on, avoided the bells, and walked over to where the yarn was.

I told the charm to activate and fell right into the yarn, nearly causing me to fall over. But I didn't, so I picked it up then walljumped back onto the purple platform.

A bit more bell-related platforming and I found myself staring at a key. I picked it up, then looked around. I was _pretty _high up.

In fact, from that angle I could see the Time Piece, shining ever so brightly with its perpetual white radiance.

I smirked. No wonder those two directors wanted to use these things as props. I heard a clang

But I could marvel at them later. I took a leap of faith down and then navigated back to the bell. Just then, I heard a horn booming through the realm of nothingness.

I reckoned that it was the kid, and waited patiently for her to return.

When she did, I waved the key and she nodded, then whacked the bell again, which made the aura go down.

Once again, quite interesting.

We hopped over to the locked door, and I unlocked it, which busted the key and the lock. We proceeded through.

We were stopped by a set of metal bars, and a green wall inside of them.

Curious what would happen, I activated my charm, and the wall caused the bars to raise.

"Aha!" I exclaimed.

I waited for the charm to turn off, and we rushed through to the other side.

Ahead, a set of very long bars blocked off access to a locked door, which led across to some bells.

I looked down and saw some purple walls holding the bars up.

I hopped down and activated my charm, and sure enough, the walls phazed out and the bars fell down enough for us to be able to hop over them.

I looked for a way back up and saw the kid running off somewhere.

I groaned.

Why couldn't she just stay put for five seconds?!

I was about to rush after her, but then I decided that she could handle herself.

So, I hopped back on up to the door and waited for her there. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an ice-coloured thing whizz by, and I peeked over to see the kid standing on a platform holding a ball of yarn.

I shook my head and continued to wait for her.

She returned later with a key and a big grin, then she unlocked the door. We went through, and saw that the entire platform ahead was green, but there were three bells placed even distances away from eachother across it.

I clonked the first bell, then walked over to the second bell, then rang it as well.

I heard a yelp and turned around to see the kid climbing onto the pillar.

"Watch what you're doing!" She yelled.

"Sorry! I didn't know that would happen!" I shouted, "At least you're safe."

"No thanks to _you_," She muttered.

I stopped.

No, surely she didn't mean that.

I looked at her, and she was looking down guiltily.

"I don't know why I said that," She said timidly, "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry."

I sighed.

"I know you didn't. Don't worry about it." I said, then knelt down with a smirk. "It'll take _much_ more than just words to harm _me,_" I joked.

She smiled and giggled.

I chuckled.

"Well, anyway, I think I know what to do here. I'll stay here, you go ring that other bell," I said.

"Won't that get you trapped?" She asked.

"No, because I'll ring this bell to turn it off," I said.

She quietly said 'oh' and ran over to the third bell, then rang it.

I rang the second bell, and it worked like a charm. Hardly any of the platform was ethereal anymore. I walked over to her, then knelt down and tapped my forehead with a smirk. She snickered, and we continued moving.

Some hopping and hookshot-swinging later, we found ourselves at the top of a ladder and standing next to a zipline that led right to the Time Piece.

We went across it, and saw a set of green stairs leading to the Time Piece, which was floating in midair above the tallest platform in the whole complex.

I saw a bell and rang it, then the kid climbed up the stairs to the Time Piece, which was now surrounded by solid green walls. She activated her mask, fell into the Time Piece, grabbed it, then dove down to me.

"Super," I said, "Now just how do we get out of here?"

She grabbed my hand and held the Time Piece to the sky. Nothing. She tried shaking it. Nothing.

I saw the Twilight Bell still looming there, off in the distance.

"How much you wanna bet we have to ring the bell again to get outta here?" I asked.

"I dunno," She responded, "Not like we have any other options."

So... we backtracked all the way through the complex back to the bell.

The kid handed me the Time Piece, and then rang the bell thrice again.

The world turned green, and when the green vanished, we were back in Alpine Skyline.

I sighed with relief, and looked around.

Something that caught my eye was that those strange purple buds from before were beginning to blossom.

I shrugged my shoulders. They were just flowers, flowers bloom, that's what they do. Nothing to be worried about, surely.

Yep, _suuuurely _nothing to be worried about.

We returned to the ship, and the kid threw the Time Piece back where it rightfully belonged.

I looked at the giant monitor. 31/56. We were just over halfway done with the Time Pieces.

Just then, I remembered something.

_"If you won't use them to fight evil, then I will! I'll collect all the Time Pieces for myself! You have my word on it!"_

I frowned.

I wondered if that psychotic brat had collected any or not.

The kid must've seen me frown, because she frowned as well.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I just remembered that crazy Miss 'Justice' is still out there, and it's been a while since we've started. I'm just wondering if she's found any or not," I muttered.

"Probably not," She responded almost immediately, "She doesn't know how to find them, and even if she somehow managed to get one, knowing her, she'd have probably used it already."

She then grinned smugly.

"And trust me, if a Time Piece was broken..." She said just as smugly, "I'd know."

"Hmm, you're right. Still, I have a feeling that something bad is gonna happen soon. Dunno why, I just do," I grumbled.

"Weird," She said, "Well, if anything does happen, we'll solve it no problem! We're the best team in the Universe!"

I chuckled.

"If you say so, kid," I said.

She jumped down next to me, and then ran away after muttering that she'd find the storybooks she was telling me about earlier.

She came back with three books, and we sat down to begin looking at them.

I smiled, and felt peace...

... Peace that would soon be replaced with chaos.


	38. Chapter 37: Death Blossom

Chapter 37: Death Blossom

**A/N: Here we go. This is where the fun begins. I know this is quite a bit earlier than usual, but hey, I didn't wanna keep y'all waiting for long.**

**Then after this, we can get to the **_**real interesting **_**part. Nyakuza Metro. I'm planning on adding just a **_**small bit **_**of creational liberty into it. What that means, you'll all have to guess.**

**But anyway, let the fun begin.**

She showed me the first book, and I realized that it was a picture book, not a narrative.

Well, that made sense. If it was a whole chapter, she probably wouldn't have been interested enough to 'read' it.

The cover showed a Mafia cargo ship on a stormy sea and was labelled 'Mafia's Grand Voyage'.

"Oh boy, this is gonna be interesting," I said.

She opened the book to show a dreary, polluted factory with a lot of Mafia Goons standing in front of it and the Mafia Boss smiling in front of it. Judging by all the fish guts, it was a fish processing plant.

The next page showed a seemingly younger version of the Mafia Boss without his chef's hat and holding a mop, all miserable and dreaming of a sunny island paradise where he could just sit back and relax. Meanwhile, a Mafia Goon failed at stacking boxes behind him.

The following page showed the Mafia Boss, now with his oh so recognizable hat, and his goons setting sail, with what seemed to be their women waving goodbye to them.

But why did they have similar body shapes? Weird.

After that, they sat back and relaxed while they were at sea, until the second last page showed them spotting a much nicer looking not-Mafia Town, and the geyser in the center wasn't spewing water.

The final page showed the Mafia Boss putting a flag into the ground that declared the island Mafia Town as the geyser spewed water and Mafia Goons ran amok in the background.

She closed the book.

"Well, now," I said, "That explains quite a lot. Strange how it didn't show how Moustache Girl plays into all that."

She shrugged her shoulders.

She fumbled around for the second book, and I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Something felt wrong.

Everything was fine, yet I felt like something truly awful was about to happen or happening.

Was there an intruder in the ship?

"Kid, stay here," I demanded.

"What's wrong?" She said.

"Just... stay here," I replied.

She sighed and shook her head, and I proceeded to cautiously go through the whole ship. Fortunately, I found no would-be assailant hiding anywhere on-board, yet it didn't ease the horrible feeling I had.

As I was returning to the kid, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I looked over, and no one was there. Yet again, I felt like I was being watched.

"Why don't you go take in the sights?" A too-familiar voice whispered.

"Why do you always have to mess with me like this?" I whispered back.

A menacing chuckle.

"You wouldn't understand. Go take in the sights. You'll regret it if you don't," The voice said, just above a whisper.

A menacing cackle, and it was gone.

I rolled my eyes.

'Take in the sights'? I had other things to do.

But what did he mean by 'regret it'?

Damn. I wondered if the Badge Seller knew anything about this guy, and why he was 'helping' us so much.

I grumbled and got up, then walked over to the giant window.

My jaw dropped.

Alpine Skyline was covered in a gigantic purple stormcloud. I knew it wasn't natural as we likely would've been able to see a storm coming, considering the size of the planet.

Oh, and, **storms aren't purple!**

"Hey, kid. Might wanna take a look at this," I said.

"What now?" She asked irritably, then got up and ran over.

She stared at the purple cloud down below, then said: "What is _that?_"

"Looks like some weird storm. What do we do?" I asked.

"We have to go down there and make sure everyone is okay," She said, "This is not normal. It can't be."

"I was thinking the same thing. Stories can wait," I said.

So, we hurried into the Engine Room and popped on down to Alpine Skyline.

A galeforce wind caught me off guard and made me land on my face.

I got up and looked around in shock and terror.

It was _absolute chaos._

The storm was _**FAR**_ more intense than it had looked from the spaceship. If the wind didn't knock something down, lightning obliterated it.

Another thing that cemented this storm as unnatural was that there was this weird purple crap flying around.

I barely heard the kid land and turned to her, and she was holding onto her hat so it wouldn't fly off.

I looked around for someone we could talk to and saw a nomad sheltering under a tree. I ran toward them.

"What the hell happened here?!" I yelled.

"Your guess is as good as mine!" They yelled back.

"What happened before this storm rolled in?" The kid shouted.

"The goats were beginning to act really weird a little while ago," The nomad explained anxiously, "We thought it was nothing to worry about and let it go. But... this storm rolled in just as those weird purple flowers bloomed, and the goats went insane!"

"Dammit!" I muttered under my breath.

I knew those damn flowers were no good! Why didn't I trust my damn instincts? The weird purple crap was probably their pollen, and the pollen was probably making the goats go nuts!

"Well what are we supposed to do now? We can't eradicate an entire colony of demon flowers!" I hissed.

The kid shushed me and adopted a thoughtful look.

"Aha!" She exclaimed, "Where did you all begin noticing those flowers?"

"We first saw them growing out near each of the peaks, except the Twilight Bell. The first plants became _really _big."

"It sounds like these flowers originated from three separate colonies. Each of those big flowers is likely a main root. If we can find them and destroy them, the flowers should all die," She stated emotionlessly.

"How do you know all this?" I asked.

"Another time. We need to move," She stated, "Let's search near the Windmill first."

I nodded, and we rushed to the blue zipline. We took the left route, and when we landed, a bolt of lightning struck down right in a group of now-blooming flowers. I looked down at them. They were covered in thorns and spikes, and even their flowers looked dangerous.

"We should probably not touch the flowers," I said.

"Obviously," The kid retorted.

We let the windmill take us to the top of the cliff, where a goat with red eyes noticed us and charged after us.

"_**Move it!**_" I yelled, and we scurried to the top of its house, which it crashed into the side of, nearly knocking me off.

We climbed up to the zipline, which was coated in pollen. No way our hookshots would _safely _work on that.

The kid whistled.

"Over here!" She yelled, then jumped off before I could stop her. However, her hookshot shot out and clamped onto a very large piece of pollen that I had not seen. She swung off of more pollen and landed on a cliff, and off in the distance I could see the main root.

I followed suit and landed next to her, and I stared toward the root.

I knew I was being paranoid, but it seemed to stare back.

We hopped over a gap and proceeded to make a mad dash toward the root.

I saw something light purple whizz by my face, and looked over my shoulder to see a piece of pollen on the ground. Seconds later, it exploded.

I looked off toward the plant, and it was lobbing more pieces of pollen at us like a fricking mortar.

I wasn't being paranoid after all!

"Watch it!" I yelled, and we continued running toward the root as some goats chased us. We climbed up next to the root, which was growing on top of what seemed to be a stone altar, and I shielded my eyes from all the pollen.

"What now?" I shouted

"We uproot it!" The kid shouted back.

I knew I wasn't gonna touch the flower with my hands, so I simply stopped caring and whacked it a bunch of times with my baton.

It seemed to work, and the plant flew into the air and exploded into a burst of pollen, which I had to shield my face from.

When it cleared, I looked around. In this whole area, all the plants were gone and the air was somewhat clear. I turned around and the goat that had been chasing us was on the ground, and their eyes were their normal white colour.

"It worked!" I yelled.

"We're not done yet!" She said.

"Where to next?" I asked.

"The Birdhouse!" She yelled.

I hadn't been there yet. This was gonna be entirely new.

It made me even more anxious.

But I pushed it down. Now was not the time for this.

We backtracked to the central village and bolted to the Birdhouse zipline.

"Quite a sight to behold, isn't it?" I heard a mysterious voice say.

I turned, and the Badge Seller was standing there.

"What do you mean?" I shouted, "These flowers have turned the whole mountain range upside down!"

"Ah, yes, the infamous Death Blossom, the ghastly Illness of Subcon. I know it well, but I haven't seen it bloom _this_ severely in a long, _long _time. On that subject, I would give you some advice on how to fight back against the illness, but you both seem to know what you're doing. Good luck, and don't die," The merchant said with his typical mysteriousness.

I nodded, and we continued rushing to the zipline.

I gritted my teeth and thought about what the weird salesman said as we zoomed off toward this peak I've never been to.

I knew this plant was bad... oh, it was obvious it was bad, but for it to be called the freaking 'Death Blossom'?!

Something told me this storm wasn't gonna go away easily.

But we wouldn't let no Death Blossom stand in our way.

When we landed, we didn't stop. I followed the kid's lead across a hookshot clamp.

However, she landed on some tightropes strewn about the gap to the zipline, but I didn't.

I missed the first fricking one.

I was barely able to keep myself from shouting various vulgarities as I fell.

However, I found myself landing on a tree.

I looked up to the kid, and she was looking down at me like she'd seen a ghost.

I looked ahead and saw a spring at my altitude I could use to get up, and hopped from tree to tree over to it.

I bounced up to the zipline and shot off along it.

But the zipline split into two.

Would I go left, or right?

I looked over to the right and saw nothing of importance, so I quickly leaned to the left just before the zipline split.

I waited for the kid and we kept moving.

Lightning kept blasting down everywhere, destroying everything it came into contact with.

Even though we cleared one of the roots, the storm was only growing more intense.

We had to hurry, or there'd be nothing left when we finished.

I let the kid take the lead as we rushed ahead.

We were hopping down from wooden platform to wooden platform, when I stopped.

The air felt tingly.

Then it snapped into my head what that likely meant.

I immediately dove ahead with a shriek as a bolt of lightning slammed down behind me, destroying the platform.

I didn't stop to look. I just kept moving.

We saw some more giant pieces of pollen and swung off of them to reach the second root's 'lair'.

We didn't stop, we immediately off toward it. It began lobbing pollen as usual, but I saw thorny vines begin to grow out of the ground in front of the kid.

Whatever that was, she was about to run right into it.

I dove toward her and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a halt before a pillar of vines shot out of the ground.

I got up as soon as physically possible and we kept moving. No time for words.

We made it unscathed to the root and both clobbered it, uprooting it near instantly.

The plants died and the goats were incapacitated, but the storm reached a fever pitch.

The wind felt hurricane-force.

"We need to move! _**NOW!**_" I screamed, but I could hardly hear my own voice over the howling winds.

We battled through the storm back to the village and bolted as fast as possible to the Lava Cake zipline, and I hooked onto it before I could even think.

I doubted it would be very warm with all the wind. All the hot air would just rise or be blown away.

We landed and immediately bounced off a spider over to the platform, but I nearly failed and plummeted, as I wasn't accounting for the ludicrous windspeeds. However, I managed to save myself and walked over to the edge of the platform.

The platform we were meant to land on next was blasted away. There'd be no landing there.

But..

I looked in the air and saw another giant piece of pollen, so I jumped off of a couple more spiders, swung off of the pollen, and bounced off of more spiders to land next to the zipline.

I looked over to see the kid doing the same, so I hooked onto the zipline and zoomed away.

When I landed, I waited a bit for the kid, and we instantly began climbing up to the top of the small mountain.

More platforms were blasted away by the intense lightning, but there was always more pollen to swing off of, so we made it to the top relatively easily, given the circumstances.

The kid ran toward the zipline and seemed to look for a way over to the last root, but there was none.

I decided to think outside the box and climbed onto one of the houses. I gritted my teeth and held out against the wind, and saw more pollen to laed over there.

I whistled as loudly as I could to get her attention, and she noticed. She made her way over to me, and we swung across the gap.

I looked at the path leading to the root. Many hurdles made entirely of plants were situated to impede our path. It was as if the plants were learning.

"It's now or never," I said.

We both charged ahead at top speed. An ungodly amount of pollen and vines were sent toward us to try and stop us, but it failed.

At least, until I felt something coil around my ankle and pull me to the ground.

I looked at my leg to see that I had tripped over a plant, and a vine had come out of the ground and was ensnaring me.

The vine wrapped tighter, and I could feel thorns dig into my leg.

It was a lot more painful than would be expected, and I shouted out in pain and proceeded to try yanking my leg free, but it only made it worse.

I began to feel... funny. Weird. Out of reality. Furthermore, my leg no longer hurt, although I could still see the vine wrapped around it.

Were these plants toxic?

The kid was standing still, shocked.

I was briefly able to come back into reality.

"Get the stupid plant!" I yelled, and she ran off.

I began to feel tired, and all audio became muffled.

If I wasn't so tired, I would've been able to conclude that the plants were toxic. Extremely.

I heard a muffled boom, and the skies became clear.

The plants and vine all withered away and died, but I felt no different.

I was so tired, I felt so weak, I couldn't do anything.

I felt something tap me on the shoulder, and although I was too tired to look over my shoulder, I saw a shadow looming over me.

I was so tired...

The last thing I felt was a pair of hands grab me by the shoulders before all went black.


	39. Chapter 38: Void

Chapter 38: Void

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. I never got around to writing, simple as that. This chapter is where things start getting interesting **_**outside **_**of the game, hehe.**

**Also, Korrenthereaper, you'll find out what I mean soon enough. It should be good. However, if I don't like it, I may just scrap the idea I have planned.**

I found myself waking up in an endless void. There was nothing but pitch-black as far as the eye could see in every direction.

I felt like someone was standing behind me and turned around to see the kid standing there, staring off into the distance as if she was deeply lost in thought.

"Kid?" I called, "What are you doing here?"

She turned around and smiled.

But it was no warm smile, it was as cold as it could get.

"The bigger question is: why are _you_ here?" She asked evilly, "Do you even know what this place is?"

"Uh, no," I responded, "And you do?"

"Of course I do," She spat, "This is your mind."

"So this is a dream," I said.

"Or a vision," She countered.

"But if this is my mind, why is there nothing here except you?" I asked.

She began to snicker, which slowly delved into cackling.

"You're beginning to creep me out," I said.

"You're asking _me _why this place is void?" She mocked, "You should already know. This is your mind, after all. Why else would it be so dark here?"

...

I frowned.

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" I grumbled, "You're not even the kid, you're a figment of my imagination."

"So you're finally beginning to understand," She stated mockingly, "Quite fitting that the darkest place you've seen is your own imagination."

No, it couldn't be.

"No, that's not true, and you know it," I denied, "I'm a good person. I've helped a lot of people. The kid views me as her older brother. Many people consider me a hero."

"Stop lying to yourself," The figment hissed, "Have you even taken the time to think about why you're doing this? You say you're a hero. A _role model._ Have you even considered the fact that all of your actions correlate to her?"

Lies.

I didn't respond.

"Your silence says more than you ever could," It said, "Without that child, you are _nothing._ Her existence alone allows you to fabricate lies to give yourself an illusion of meaning. If she were to perish, that would all vanish. And then what? What would you do once your _shining star _is gone?"

I didn't know how to reply. The mere thought of the kid dying... it was too much to bear.

"Hmm? Tell me," It ordered.

...

I refused to answer.

"Tell me," It taunted.

I still couldn't answer.

"_**Tell me!**_" It screamed.

"_**I don't know!**_" I yelled.

"Exactly. You want to know why this place is dark? Foreboding? It's your own mind. Of course it would be this dark. It's ironic, given your fear of darkness," It stated.

The fake kid levitated toward me and stared coldly at me, face-to-face.

"Don't you start calling yourself something you're not. You're no hero, and you should never, _ever___consider yourself one. You're as bad as it can get, and you know it. You know how little it would take for you to embrace it," It hissed.

...

But this isn't the full truth.

"Maybe," I said, "Maybe. Maybe, just maybe, you're right. But you think I don't know right from wrong? Maybe in the past I was as bad as you're suggesting. I don't know, and odds are I never will. But now?"

The figment narrowed its eyes.

"Maybe I am dark. Maybe I do have some bad thoughts. But who doesn't?" I hissed, and the void was finally purged with light.

"Everyone has a dark side. But everyone has a light side, and you know you can't tell me otherwise. All that matters is which side you choose to accept," I stated.

The void was purged more with light, until it was half-dark, and half-light.

"And you know what I choose?" I asked.

The figment was in shock.

"Light."

The void was completely filled with a bright white light, until I couldn't see anything.

My eyes opened and I found myself in a completely different area.

I sat up and looked around, finding myself in the goat village of Alpine Skyline.

It was a dream.

I felt something small tackle into me and wrap around my neck tightly, and knew immediately it was the kid.

"Hey, kid," I said, hugging her back.

"You scared me," She whispered, and I smiled warmly.

"It's okay. I'm not going anywhere," I said, "Okay?"

She nodded and let go. I stood up, and was greeted by the Badge Seller standing there.

However, his calm, almost playful demeanour was gone. He seemed dead serious.

"What happened?" I asked, "How long was I out?"

"Not very long," The merchant answered, "At least not long after I found you. It's a good thing I did."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"There are two main reasons," He responded, "I gave you the Death Blossom's antidote. However..."

"What?" I said.

"It's a good thing I found you as quickly as I did," He said, "I managed to find you just after... someone else did. I had to free you from his grasp so I could cure you."

I looked down at the kid. She would've seen all of this.

"Is this true?" I asked her, and she nodded.

"What did this person look like?" I asked.

"A young man such as yourself, clad in dark robes with an aura around him that you would best understand as 'glitchy'," He said.

Wait...

Him?!

"I know this person well, as much as I wish I did not. He's very dangerous, _**VERY powerful,**_ and has done... questionable things in the past," The merchant ranted, "I do not know what he would have wanted with you, but I know it would not have ended well."

"Wait..." I said, "This isn't adding up, I know that guy."

The Badge Seller froze for once. He wasn't even twitching or glitching.

"I'm... sorry?" He said, "You didn't say you... knew him, did you?"

"Yeah, he's helped us out on multiple occasions," I said.

He was silent.

"Meet me back here tomorrow morning," He ordered, "We must discuss this... _**alone.**_"

"Why alone?" The kid asked.

"Yeah, why alone?" I muttered.

"This is a private matter, one that must be discussed by us and us alone. It is not your place to join in discussing these matters," The Badge Seller hissed.

He'd never been like that before.

"She's seen just as much as I have about what this person has done for us. Why can't she talk about it?" I said.

"Because she isn't his target," He said.

That sent chills down my spine.

"Fine," I said, "We'll discuss this privately. But if I hear something I feel the kid should hear you know I'm gonna tell her."

"Very well," He said, "Now begone. I need to think."

I turned to the kid.

"I hope you brought a Time Piece," I said.

"Actually, the nomads gave me one as thanks for saving their home!" She said.

"Well, at least there's that," I said, "Let's go."

We returned to the spaceship with the new Time Piece, and I sat down and stared at the planet, then I began to think.

The Badge Seller knew this guy.

And judging by his words and actions, he considered this guy as a threat. A _**big **_threat.

I felt a presence again.

This time, it sent chills down my spine.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked over.

He was actually there, standing there.

I stood up and stared at him. He stared back, then smirked.

"Why the shocked face?" He mocked, "Are you scared?"

I couldn't answer.

"Wh-why are you here?" I stuttered, then looked around. The kid didn't seem to see him.

He frowned.

"I tried to help you after you got poisoned by the plant, but that _simpleton _got in my way. Do not trust him. He is selfish and only cares about money. Do you know why he gave you a discount on that badge?" He asked.

"Because I've been a good customer?" I said.

He laughed.

"He is trying to gain your trust, so he can manipulate you against me. Do not believe his lies. When you go to meet with him, be very wary of what you say and do. He may not react too kindly," He warned.

"But I have questions. For both of you," I stated.

"Your questions will be answered when the time is right," He said, "Be patient, and be mindful. Your life may depend on it."

"But-"

He then vanished.

"Dammit!" I whispered to myself.

"Uhh, are you okay?" I heard the kid say, "Should I be worried?"

"He appeared to me," I stated.

"Who?" She asked.

"You know who," I answered.

"Oh, him," She said, "What did he say?"

"He said the Badge Seller was trying to manipulate us, and that I should be careful. I said I had questions, and he said they'd be answered when the time comes," I explained, then threw my arms up into the air in exasperation.

"So who do we trust?" She asked.

"Nobody," I said, "We trust nobody until we have reason to."

She nodded.

As if finding the Time Pieces wouldn't be hard enough, now we couldn't trust two of the people who helped us the most.

Things were really beginning to get complicated.

And odds were good that it wouldn't be getting any simpler.


	40. Chapter 39: Traveller

Chapter 39: Traveller

**A/N: Alright, now we're about to get into the good stuff. Our protagonist is gonna get some insight on his anonymous friend. Next chapter should be the halloween special, then after that, well, it should be obvious.**

The next day, I returned to Alpine Skyline by myself to speak with the Badge Seller.

I wasn't sure what to expect.

I saw him waiting by his usual area and approached him.

"Ah, you've come," He greeted, "And you've come alone."

"Yes," I said, "Now let's get to the point."

"I know it may seem like the being who has been 'helping' you is trustworthy, but I know him better than anyone else," He stated.

"What exactly _do _you know about him? Is there anything I should know about?" I asked.

"Yes, his story. An indeterminate amount of time ago, for seemingly no reason, two universes collided. Can you guess which universes they happened to be?"

"I'll take a wild guess and say: this one, and my old home," I said.

"Precisely. When that happened, for a short period of time, people from the two universes could walk between worlds and interact with people from the other universe. As a result, two people from the different universes met and had a child," He explained, "However, the universes went their separate ways, and the parents were sent back to their original universes."

"And the child?" I asked.

"The child, being a being of two worlds, was caught between worlds. Isolated from everyone he knew. This led to him gaining immense powers, including immortality and the ability to create portals between worlds at will," The merchant stated, "However, his isolation had an effect on him. He would wander between worlds and act like a ghost, being an unseen force that would interfere with anything and everything that he thought would be entertaining enough. Have you ever seen anything go missing and never be found again? Most likely, that was him."

"And what does this have to do with him helping me?" I asked.

There were a few anxious seconds of silence.

"That... I do not completely know," He said, "It would be fair to assume he is the one who brought you here. Your memory is fractured, correct?"

"Couldn't have put it a better way," I said, "But I do remember some things."

"Do you ever remember anything strange happening throughout your life? Feelings of being watched when nobody is watching? Disembodied voices? Objects disappearing?" He asked.

"Well, I felt like I was being watched before I was brought here. I felt like I was being watched, checked my home, found nothing, and shortly after a weird-looking portal appeared that sucked me in and brought me here," I said.

"That is his handiwork, without a doubt," He muttered to himself.

"Yesterday, you implied that I was 'his target'," I said, "What could he want with me? I'm nobody special, just a boring young adult. Why would an interdimensional deity want to specifically target me?"

"I do not know how his mind works. I cannot say for sure," He said, "But I feel he senses the same thing I do within you."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Infinite potential," He stated.

Uhm...

'Potential'? Eh...

"Can you elaborate? I don't really get what you mean by that," I asked uncomfortably.

"I sense the potential for greatness in you. Most likely, he does as well, and he's likely wanting to manipulate that," He said, "He has his own goals. He wants to do something grand, something that would change the multiverse... although I haven't a slightest clue on what that may be. Regardless, you must be very careful."

"But of course," I responded.

"On another subject, you said he has helped you. Exactly how has he interacted with you?" He asked.

"It started off with a disembodied voice and a feeling of being watched. He said that we were gonna need something, and when I turned around two badges were lying on the ground. They just so happened to be the badges we needed to do a certain yellow bird's explosive train movie," I grumbled, "Also, he told me to look in Subcon Forest for Time Pieces, but said to be careful for Snatcher. Fast forward a little bit, and he saved us from... that ice witch. It was in that moment I actually saw him. He said that he 'wasn't gonna have 20 years of me growing up be wasted stupidly'."

"Ah," He said, nodding, "That simply confirms my suspicions. He's trying to build your trust so he can use you later for his unknown purposes."

"And what would happen once he loses interest, or I wear out my usefulness?" I asked.

"I do not know. He is unpredictable in his goals. That is why you must be careful," He stated.

"Okay..." I muttered, "Is that all?"

"Yes, you may leave if you wish," He answered.

"Well, thanks, I guess," I said uncomfortably.

Then, I thought of something.

"Wait," I said, "What's his name?"

"Nobody knows," The Badge Seller responded, "He goes by many names, but the few who know about him refer to him as The Traveller."

The Traveller.

Well, I couldn't say it didn't suit him.

I nodded in appreciation and returned to the ship with a Time Piece the kid gave me.

She was waiting for me impatiently.

"So?" She asked.

"I learned his past," I said, "The Badge Seller also thinks that he could be trying to build up my trust so he can use me later. I still don't see what's so special about me, but whatever. Maybe _he'll _come down and chat with me again to clarify some things, I dunno."

"Can we trust anyone yet?" She asked.

"I dunno," I answered simply.

She frowned.

"Well _that's_ reassuring," She said sarcastically.

"Relax," I muttered, "We'll be fine. They've both helped us out a lot. I sincerely doubt either of them would do anything radical at this point."

She just sighed.

"If you say so," She responded.

I cleared my throat.

"Well, now that that's over with, where do you think we should search next?" I asked.

"I scanned the planet while you were away," She said, "And there's a _**BIG**_ underground place with the most Time Piece signatures we've seen yet!"

"Well that's definitely some good news," I muttered, "Have you set up a telescope to get down there?"

"I'll have to power up a new room for it, but that can wait. We still have plenty of time," She said.

"I was thinking the same thing. Let's not rush when there's no need," I agreed, "I'm thinking that we should take like a 3 day break from all this, maybe go check on our friends, ya know."

She nodded with a smile.

"Sounds good to me!" She exclaimed.

I smirked.

"Then it's a plan."


	41. Chapter 40: Master Of Scares (pt 1)

Chapter 40: Master Of Scares (pt. 1)

**A/N: **_**Ooh, very scary! **_**It is time for Halloween! And with it, our two protagonists have some fun with our favourite purple noodle man.**

We spent the rest of the day messing around and doing random things around the ship. Nothing special.

The next day, I sat and stared out at the planet in front of me. If we were gonna be taking a 3-day hiatus from collecting Time Pieces, it seemed like a good time to go see what was going on back in places we've been before.

"Hey, kid!" I called.

"What?" I heard her ask from another end of the ship.

"Wanna pay some of our old 'friends' a visit?" I asked.

"I dunno," She responded.

I waited a few minutes for her to think.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed, "Let's go visit our BFF!"

"Snatcher?" I asked.

"Mhm!" She answered.

I chuckled. I could imagine the look on his face when he sees us.

"Great idea, kid. Let's go," I stated.

We got ready and teleported down to the dark forest.

I looked around. We teleported at the base of the giant tree again, but strangely enough, Snatcher wasn't in the tree. His book was lying open on his chair.

Something didn't seem right.

It seemed quiet. _Eerily quiet._

Why was Snatcher gone?

"Kid, you've been down here without me since we beat him, right? To seal some Time Rifts?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Was he sitting in his tree?" I asked.

"Yeah, and he got _really mad_ to see me," She said.

Odd. Maybe he was off collecting some poor fool's soul.

I looked around for any of the minions or dwellers. They were all gone, too.

Maybe they were all at the village for some sort of meeting?

"Let's go to the village. They might be there," I said.\

We slowly began walking down the path.

I did not like this at all. Subcon usually had a dark aura, but this was different. The entire forest seemed... oh, how would I put it...

Menacing.

It felt like the forest itself was watching us, and did not want us here.

Maybe Snatcher changed some things...?

As we walked along, I heard deep breathing behind me.

I turned around.

My heart dropped.

Where was the kid?

"Hey! Kid!" I shouted, "Where the freak are you?! Now is not a good time to be screwing around!"

No response.

_Shiiiit._

We should not have come here.

Something took the kid.

Odds were I'd be next.

I continued walking down the path to the village on high alert and scared out of my mind for the kid's sake.

I heard a scream.

I knew immediately who it was from.

It sounded like it came from the swamp.

I bolted to where I heard the scream and found no one there.

"Kid!" I yelled, "Where are you?!"

There was no answer.

I needed to find her and get out of here.

I heard a twig snap behind me.

I turned around to face nothing.

I took out my baton.

I heard a rush of air beside me, and turned to it. Nothing again.

I heard a footstep behind me. Once again, there was nothing.

It seemed like something was all around me. I began to spin around, attempting to catch a glimpse of it.

And then slipped and fell down.

I sat up and looked around. It was silent.

I sighed. It was gone. Part of me felt relieved, but a much larger part of me was simply concerned for the kid.

I sighed once again and lied down, then closed my eyes. How would I track down a menace that I couldn't even see?

I'd have to find Snatcher.

That was the only option I had left.

"_**BOO!**_"

I jumped and screamed louder than I ever could've thought possible.

I slowly turned around to see Snatcher sitting there laughing so goddamn hard there were golden tears in his eyes.

"The hell is your problem?!" I hissed.

"**Oh, you should've **_**SEEN **_**the look on your face! I wish I had a camera!**" He shouted between fits of laughter, "**Who's the nightmare now, tough guy?**"

"What do you want? I'm looking for the kid," I grumbled, "She was taken by something."

He cleared his metaphorical throat.

"**About that,**" He started.

"What?" I muttered.

He snapped his fingers.

I heard something behind me and turned to see a very confused kid sitting there.

I immediately reached down and hugged her.

"Thank god you're safe," I said.

I then let go and stood up.

"What just happened?" She asked.

"**What happened was...**" Snatcher stated, "**I just gave tough guy here the biggest scare of his life!**"

"Big deal," I grumbled, "So you kidnapped the kid to scare me. May I ask you _**WHY?!**_"

"**It's my favourite time of year!**" He said happily, "_**Halloween!**_**"**

I raised an eyebrow.

"Halloween?" I asked, "You guys have Halloween?"

"Hallowhat?" The kid asked.

Snatcher scowled.

"**You haven't heard of Halloween?! Unforgiveable!**" He scoffed, "**Well, tough guy, seeing as you know about it, why don't you tell her?**"

"Uhm... well..." I stuttered.

"**Go on!**" He demanded.

"Where I'm from, Halloween is a spooky holiday where people decorate their homes to make them seem scary and/or dress in costumes and go to people's houses asking for candy. The latter is called 'trick-or-treating', as if they don't give you treats, then you're supposed to prank or trick them," I explained, "There's also a bunch of events and costume parties and whatnot that people would hold near or on Halloween night."

"Woah," The kid says, "That sounds cool!"

"**Well, **_**my **_**version of Halloween is a bit different from your lame, boring version. Halloween is when I go around the planet and scare the living daylights out of people, with **_**you **_**being my first victim!**" He flaunted.

"Can you _please _stop rubbing it in?" I grumbled.

"**Oh, fine,**" He said.

"Well, now that that's happened, I guess we should go now," I stated.

"**Actually,**" Snatcher said, "**You caught me in a really good mood, so how would you like to watch the master of scares at work?**"

What? Didn't he hate us?

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"**This is not a trick!**" He stated.

"Well, that seems like a good way to spend Halloween to me," I muttered, "How about you, kid?"

"Sure!" She said, "It sounds fun!"

"**Great!**" He exclaimed, then cackled. He then grabbed the kid by the cape and me by the hood. "**The three of us are gonna have some **_**fun **_**today!**" He said evilly.

Before I could ask him what he meant, he cackled again and pulled us through the ground, sending everything dark.

This Halloween was gonna be interesting, for better or for worse.


	42. Chapter 41: Snatcher's Fun Day (pt 2)

Chapter 41: Snatcher's Fun Day (pt. 2)

**A/N: Part 2 of the Halloween special. I know it's a bit late in the day to upload it, but it's still Halloween today, so sue me. At least I didn't upload it tomorrow, or fail to upload it at all.**

**But anyway, enjoy.**

When I opened my eyes again, we were on top of a building in Mafia Town. Snatcher was an actual shadow in the ground in front of us.

"Oh, you weren't kidding," I said.

He pointed ahead, and I peeked over to see a Mafia Goon walking around in an alley in the most disgustingly arrogant pose I'd ever seen.

"**You see that goon?**" He asked.

"Walking around like a narcissist? Yeah," I said.

"**Watch and learn!**" He exclaimed.

He then disappeared. We both watched as the shadow proceeded to harrass the goon from the shadows by kicking cans about and whatever for the next five minutes, annoying the goon a lot.

The goon then yelled to stop being a coward, and Snatcher seemed to stop.

The goon then mumbled something inaudible and proceeded to go back to doing what he was doing.

The ground beneath the goon turned purple, and Snatcher emerged from the ground behind him.

The goon turned around, and Snatcher lurched forward into a menacing pose with a roar.

Which caused the goon to fall on his back with a high-pitched shriek and shake like a leaf.

I laughed so hard there were tears in my eyes. Seemed those morons weren't as big, mean, or tough as they thought they were.

Snatcher then disappeared and re-appeared in front of us as a shadow.

"**And that is how it's done!**" He flaunted.

The kid giggled.

"Nice," I said.

"**Time to go find another poor soul to terrify!**" He shouted contently.

And off he went.

He spent the next, like, half an hour horrifying both Mafia goons and normal citizens. It was quite amusing to watch the goons' reactions.

One goon even fainted!

When he finished having his fun, he returned to us with the biggest grin I'd ever seen on his face.

"Having fun?" I asked.

"**There's nothing quite as refreshing as scaring the soul out of some poor, helpless victim! It's one of the reasons why I like setting traps!**" He stated.

"I suppose that makes sense," I muttered, "Are you done?"

He chuckled darkly.

"**Actually, I should go check my traps! Want to come?**" He asked.

"Uhh, sure," I said, "But why are you doing this? Don't you hate us?"

"**Hey, it's Halloween! I'm in too much of a good mood to hold grudges!**" He exclaimed, "**Also, I can't let the little brat go without seeing what Halloween is **_**really **_**about. That would just be a shame!**"

I shook my head.

He pulled us through the ground again. A short trip later, and we were back in Subcon.

"Boss!"

A minion ran up to us, nearly tripping over themself.

"**Yes?**" He grumbled, "**Has someone been caught in a trap?**"

"Uhh... not quite," The minion said uncertainly.

Snatcher sighed.

"**Then what?**" He asked impatiently.

"There's an intruder! She's causing chaos!" The minon shouted.

'She'?

I looked at the kid, and she shrugged her shoulders. Seemed like she didn't know either.

"**I expect you idiots to deal with intruders personally and bring them to me on their knees. Why hasn't this been done?!**" Snatcher boomed.

The minion began trembling.

"Cause she's too fast for us to catch her!" The minion explained, "We've been chasing her throughout the forest!"

Snatcher grumbled.

"**Well, kids, looks like you're gonna see firsthand how I deal with arrogant fools like these,**" He grumbled, "**Where is this intruder?**"

"We lost track of her in the swamp," The minion answered nervously.

"**Good,**" Snatcher said evilly, "**Very good.**"

He brought us with him into the sky, then flew over the swamp.

He then cackled.

"**Found you.**"

He swooped down and dropped us onto a tree branch, and I saw something red out of the corner of my eye.

I looked at it, and my jaw dropped.

What were the chances?

It was Moustache Girl, caught in the swamp and sinking slowly.

She wasn't gonna make it out.

At the last second, Snatcher appeared behind her and roughly yanked her by her cape out of the swamp.

"Wha- _hey!_" She shouted, "Let me go!"

"**So first you refuse to leave and now you want to be dropped back into the swamp that almost killed you? Sheesh, and I thought those two had a death wish,**" He hissed, "_**Who are you and why are you here?!**_"

"I'm looking for Time Pieces!" She shouted.

"**Guess what? You're too late! There aren't any left here!**" He taunted.

She growled.

"Then let me go!" She hissed, "I'll just leave, then!"

Snatcher chuckled darkly.

"**Oh, no, little miss, you aren't getting away **_**that **_**easily. You trespassed into **_**MY **_**domain and harrassed **_**MY **_**minions. You're going to learn exactly why nobody does that,**" He said evilly.

"Well it seemed those two idiots did it and got away just fine!" She yelled.

"**You really shouldn't have pushed your luck, kid,**" He hissed, "**If you would've just gone and gotten yourself caught in one of my traps, I would've let you live. Sure, I would've taken your soul and made you do my dirty work, but at least you would've gotten to live. But you just had to go and insult me by dodging my traps and causing mischief in my forest. You're gonna regret it.**"

He grabbed her by the head and lifted her into the air.

"**Say goodbye to your soul and your body,**" He cackled.

I frowned.

Sure, the brat was unhinged and all, but she didn't deserve _this. _Hell, how was she even supposed to know this would happen? It wasn't fair for her.

I'd have to step in.

I hopped down onto a small wooden platform and whistled.

They both turned to me. The kid jumped down as well and waved.

"You!" Moustache Girl yelled.

"You know, Snatcher, I don't think you should do that," I stated.

He scowled.

"**And why would that be?!**" He shouted.

"She's quite the handful. If you want to prevent issues, like ones you had with us, it would probably be best just to kick her out," I reasoned.

He laughed.

"**You don't get it, do you? She'd be a mindless corpse, programmed to do my bidding. If I'd done that with the two of you brats, you'd never have even considered fighting me,**" He hissed.

I didn't know how to respond to that.

I turned to the kid. She had a thoughtful look on her face.

She grinned and gave the demon a determined look.

"If you don't let her go we'll turn you blue again!" She shouted.

He said nothing, but he looked _**extremely **_angry.

"**Fine,**" He stated, "**Be that way. Ruin my Halloween.**"

Was he... hurt?

Did he feel... betrayal?

I thought he didn't care?

He then formed a ball of purple magic around her and chucked her full-force out of the forest.

"Holy-!" I whispered to myself.

"**I'm going back to my tree. Find the way out of here by yourselves,**" He said, then disappeared.

Fortunately, the kid had a Time Piece on her, and we used it to return to the ship.

She seemed kind of sad when we got back.

"You aren't feeling guilty, are you?" I asked.

"He seemed really upset," She said sadly.

"Kid, he's a demon. He's just mad that we took away his victim," I grumbled.

"I think we should make him an apology gift," She said, completely ignoring what I just said.

"Why would he care?" I asked.

"If he doesn't, then he doesn't," She pouted, "Better than doing nothing."

I sighed.

"Fine," I grumbled, "What do you wanna do, then?"

She was silent for a few minutes, clearly thinking, then she threw her arms up in exasperation.

"I don't know," She said.

I decided to think of something in the Halloween spirit to do.

I thought of the perfect thing.

"Kid, we need to get a pumpkin and a knife," I said.

She nodded, but I could see she was confused.

"You'll see what I mean," I stated.

We went down to Mafia Town and were able to find a good sized pumpkin and a good carving knife.

We took it back to the ship, and I brought both items into the kitchen.

"Have you ever carved a pumpkin?" I asked, "Probably not, eh?"

She nodded.

"Well I don't remember how to carve one, so this will be interesting," I stated, "Let's get to it."

So, we did.

We started by cutting off the top, then we spent... way too long scooping out all of the seeds. I knew I didn't like pumpkin seeds, but I kept them so the kid could try them. Maybe she'd like them, who knew.

"Alright, now that the pumpkin is finally hollowed out, we have to carve a face on the front of it," I stated, "There's a stereotypical face we could do, but I've seen special things done with pumpkins."

"I know what we should do!" She exclaimed.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked.

She told me what she was thinking, and I grinned and nodded.

"Alright. Let's do it," I said.

So, we did.

Because I didn't trust a child with a knife, I did like 95% of the work myself.

After an... interesting hour of carving and accidentally slitting the tip of my thumb once, it was finally finished.

We stepped back and looked at our creation.

"This... did not work out as planned," I muttered.

"You can say that again," The kid grumbled.

"But hopefully it'll be good enough," I stated, "Let's go down and bring it to him."

"Who should give it to him?" She asked.

"I think you, as it was your idea to give him a gift," I answered.

"But the carving was your idea," She countered.

"Which wouldn't have even happened if you hadn't been persistent on getting him a gift," I stated.

"But we wouldn't have even found a gift to give him if you didn't think of it," She said.

"You know what?" I said, "Let's both give it to him."

She nodded.

I picked up the pumpkin, and we beamed down to Subcon.

Just as he said, he was sitting in the tree, reading his book miserably.

"Welp, here goes nothing," I muttered.

I put the pumpkin behind my back and we walked into the tree.

He saw us and snapped his book closed.

"**What do you brats want? Haven't ruined my day enough yet?**" He hissed.

"Actually, we wanted to give you this," I stated.

"**I dont want your- what... is... that?**" He asked as I pulled out the pumpkin and handed it to the kid, who put it down.

"It's a jack-o-lantern," I stated, "A spooky-looking carved pumpkin that you're supposed to put a candle inside to light up an area in Halloween."

"We carved your face into it as an apology for ruining your favourite day of the year," The kid said, "So... sorry!"

Snatcher's face went blank, and he stared at the pumpkin.

A smile slowly crept onto his face, and he snickered.

Shortly after, he burst into a fully fledged fit of laughter.

"Uhh," I muttered.

"**You... you actually thought that's what I looked like?!**" He asked between fits of laughter.

"It... didn't really turn out the way we wanted it to," I stated, "We hoped it'd be good enough."

"**That just made my day,**" He said, "**Alright, kids, I guess you're forgiven. I still don't wanna see you poking around my forest after this, though.**"

"No guarantees," I said.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"**Is that all you wanted?**" He asked.

"Yeah," I stated.

"**Then get out of my forest,**" He said relaxedly.

I looked at the kid, and she smiled.

"Alright then, we'll get going," I stated.

We turned around and walked away, but the kid stopped and turned back to Snatcher and waved at him.

"Happy Halloween!" She shouted.

He rolled his eyes, but I could still see the smirk on his face.

The kid walked up to me and held a Time Piece to the sky.

As she grabbed my hand, I could faintly hear Snatcher say something:

"**You too, kids.**"


	43. Chapter 42: Just In Time

Chapter 42: Just In Time

**A/N: Alright, Spooktober is over. So back to the normal content we go. Next chapter will be the beginning of the Metro.**

**Katoptris12: That was the intention, I'm glad it turned out the way I wanted it to. Thanks for the feedback.**

When we got back to the ship, I realized that it was getting rather late in the day, so we went to sleep soon after.

I woke up the next day before the kid did. I decided that it'd be a good time to think about what else we could do in our little break.

There wasn't much to do on the ship other than play games, but that seemed like a poor use of time.

We hadn't seen the Conductor in awhile, so maybe we could go down to the studio and see what was going on.

Or we could go see what our favourite shadow demon was doing again.

The thought reminded me of something...

I fiddled around in my pockets and pulled out the special badge that I spent an arm and a leg on: the Shadow Badge.

Perhaps I could fiddle around with that.

I shook my head and put it away. I could do it later in the day. Visiting a friend that we hadn't seen in awhile seemed the better option.

So, I waited for the kid to wake up. When she (eventually) did, I told her my plan and she agreed groggily.

Not long after, we were teleporting down to the studio.

We walked inside, and I looked around. Nothing seemed different, which was a bit surprising.

I was kinda thinking that the studio was going to be busy after what happened in the basement. Or maybe it'd been so long since it happened that nobody really cared anymore.

I walked up to the reception, and the receptionist bird clearly noticed us.

"Long time, no see," He greeted.

"I guess so," I responded, "Is Conductor busy?"

"Busy is an understatement," He answered, "He's back at recording, and our reputation is gone thanks to... you know, so that's making things harder for us. Nobody wants to work with us anymore."

If things were that bad for the Conductor...

"What about DJ Grooves?" I asked, "Surely he's been having some nasty ramifications for the incident."

"Not really," He stated, "He's been having the same issues as the Conductor. Nothing more, nothing less. Most people don't know much about what happened in the Award Ceremony incident, so most people assume that he had a good reason for attacking you two. Some even think it was self-defense."

I heard the kid scoff at that.

"Yeah. 'Self-defense'. As if," I grumbled.

"Anyway, if Conductor is that busy, I guess we should come back another time," I stated.

"That's probably for the best," The receptionist said, nodding his head, "Conductor gets really bent out of shape when his recordings are interrupted."

I slowly nodded.

"Alright, let's go, kid," I said.

We left the studio. Maybe we could visit Conductor another time.

But if we ran into Grooves again... anything could happen. So it'd probably be best _not_ to run into him.

When we got back to the ship, the kid sighed.

"Welp," I said, "What else could we do today?"

"Go to Mafia Town?" She suggested, "Maybe something will happen."

"Okay then," I muttered.

We went down to Mafia Town and looked around. We couldn't find Moustache Girl, but we found something else...

A checkered flag with two stars and an hourglass on it, and a red line leading out from it. We followed it across the perimeter of the island to one of the strangest sights I'd ever seen.

A Mafia Goon sitting on a rocket. A _**literal rocket**_.

The kid slowly walked up to him and gave him a questioning look.

"Haha! Rockets are fast, and if Mafia on rocket, Mafia is fast! Fastest man alive!" He shouted with bravado.

The kid crossed her arms and shook her head with a judging look. That made me smirk.

"Little child want to race fastest man alive? Mafia stole Time Piece from HQ. If you win, Mafia give it to you," He stated confidently.

"Bye, loser," She spat with a smug look, then walked away.

Wait a minute...

"Haha! Just as Mafia thought," The goon said arrogantly.

I ran after the kid.

"Kid, what are you doing? You need the Time Piece," I stated.

"Do you expect me to run faster than a rocket?" She asked.

Well, crap.

"But we can't leave any Time Pieces behind. You know this," I countered.

"I need to make a hat," She stated, "I think I have enough, though."

She pulled out a _**LOT **_of yarn and counted through it.

"Where do you store all of that?!" I asked.

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know?" She said dismissively and smugly.

...

I had no clue how to respond to that.

Well, a magician never reveals their secrets.

"Presto!"

I looked up, and the kid was holding... something. If it was a hat, it was a strange one. It was a small, black, puck-shaped thing with a green center and a clock-like design on top of it. Said thing had a transparent green ribbon fixed in place in front of it.

She grinned from ear to ear and put it on. The green ribbon was placed directly in front of her eyes.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Watch this!" She shouted.

I could see darkness envelop around her and a green glow emanate from her.

How would that help?

As I was thinking that...

_ZOOM!_

She disappeared in a blur of black and green. I almost fell backward out of the sheer surprise.

I could see a blur of black and green running around me at insane speeds, then it slowed down and the kid skidded to a halt in front of me.

"What... just happened?" I whispered.

"This hat slows down time!" She shouted.

"Oh," I responded quietly, "So that's your plan to get that Time Piece."

She nodded.

We returned to the rocket goon, and the kid walked up to him.

He looked at her smugly, and she looked back at him even more smugly.

"Race me, chicken!" She shouted.

He grinned, clearly wanting to test out his rocket.

"It is on! Mafia not sure Mafia survive this, but at least Mafia die as fastest man alive!" He shouted.

Okay then...

"I'll go wait by the finish," I stated, and the kid nodded.

So I made my way over there and waited.

Shortly after, I could see the goon flying through the sky on the rocket. He was far away, but he seemed to be having the time of his life.

However, he seemed to be getting rather close to the finish, and I hadn't seen any sign of the kid. Maybe she was moving too fast for me to see her.

The goon was close enough that I could see him in great detail. He'd reach the finish soon.

This wasn't working...

Just then, I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned to see the kid sprinting as fast as she could, but she was rather far away.

I saw her envelop in black once again, then she zoomed off in a blur.

The goon was seconds away from reaching the flag.

I looked at the flag, and the kid was standing next to it smugly, the goon reaching it no less than a second later.

He hopped off the rocket and was silent for a few seconds.

"How could Mafia lose? Mafia is fastest man alive!" He shouted.

"Well you weren't fast enough," I retorted.

He pulled out the Time Piece and tossed it to the kid, who grabbed it.

The goon walked away muttering something under his breath.

I turned to the kid and smirked.

"Nicely done!" I shouted, "That hat is insane."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked.

"Meh," She responded, "I'm tired from that race. Using this hat is draining."

"A'ight. Let's return to the ship," I suggested.

She nodded, and we did so.

I laid down on the carpeted floor staring out at the planet in front and continued thinking. Considering that Conductor was busy and that I found it _really _hard to believe that there'd be any Time Pieces left in Mafia Town anymore, it seemed like there wasn't much left to do.

We could pester Snatcher more, but we've bothered him enough.

Maybe it'd be best just to stop waiting around and get to it.

Yeah, that would be the best option. I didn't know what to expect from this new underground place, but it would probably be dark down there.

A _perfect _place to finally test out this badge...

Oh, and don't forget that it'd probably be crammed full of Time Pieces.

This would be _fun._ I could hardly wait.


	44. Chapter 43: Neon Network

Chapter 43: Neon Network

**A/N: Ok. I have quite a few things to say. First off, sorry about the delay. There was no reason for it, I just lost motivation and wanted to take a break. It happens.**

**Might be a little while before another chapter gets published, because I want to go back and update some of my stories that I haven't updated in awhile, but at least now I'm warning y'all about it.**

**But hey, now we're beginning the Metro, oh boy.**

Eventually, the time came for us to go down to this new, unexplored area. I knew this because the kid told me to follow her to a new room.

So, she led me down to the engine room, then we took a hard left and went through a door, only to faceplant into a wall immediately after.

I looked up to see one of the weird purple dimensional things blocking our way.

"What's _this _for?" I grumbled.

"It wasn't here before," She muttered.

"Weird. And annoying," I stated.

I used the weird charm I got ages ago to make the wall vanish, and we walked down a hallway... er... _I _walked down the hallway whilst the kid dove and slid through it like a slide, and we came into what seemed to be a laboratory.

"So, where do we go now?" I asked.

She didn't respond. Instead, she walked up to the monitor and tapped it, then multicoloured light began pouring out from a manhole cover in the floor. It had a snowflake on the center.

She stepped on it, hopped into the air, and used her ice hat, which sent the manhole cover into the air. It landed in the same position it started.

I walked over to it and stepped on it. Yeah, I could fit down there easily, but I didn't have the kid's hat abilities. How would I get down there?

Suddenly, the manhole cover kicked out from beneath me and sent me falling down into the hole, and I landed on my face. Painfully.

Something in this damn world was gonna give me a concussion someday, I just knew it.

I groaned and sat up. The kid was standing in front of me, a confused look on her face.

"Your people need to design your spaceships better. A manhole is not an efficient way to get into a room," I grumbled.

She giggled.

I then proceeded to look around this new room as well. It confused me even more than the method of getting into it.

It looked like... a miniature metro station? What purpose would it serve? All it would do is add weight and cost to the ship.

Maybe it'd be a good idea to ask the kid...

"What's the purpose of this room?" I asked.

"Storage," She said.

"Why does it look like a metro station?" I asked, "And what's with the cat theme?"

"That I don't know," She said, "Come on!"

She led me over to the telescope and we went down.

We found ourselves in what seemed to be a large city and a staircase leading down into probably a subway system.

"Huh. Funny," I said, "It'd be even funnier if this city and metro are populated by cats. Is that where we're going?"

She nodded.

"Then let's go," I said.

We began walking down the stairs into the metro.

The first problem we encountered was a holographic yellow wall with white X marks on it.

I attempted to walk through it, but it was solid.

"Fascinating..." I said, "An actual holographic wall. This is the kind of thing I'd have dreamt of seeing back home..."

But it was in our way.

I looked up for a way over it and saw that it didn't go all the way up to the ceiling.

Also, there was a robot vacuum with a cat-shaped cushion on it. I stepped on it just for fun, and it bounce me high into the air, and I landed on top of the wall.

Surprised, I looked down at the kid.

"Well... uh... let's go, kid," I said, then turned around and hopped off the other side.

A few seconds later and she was caught up with me, and we went up a small escalator into a larger area. The walls were covered in glowing advertisements that we couldn't read, and sure enough, the subway seemed to be populated by cats.

When I was done scanning the scenery, I noticed that the kid had gone elsewhere.

I looked around, and she was about to walk into a large tunnel. There was an orange holograph covered in cat-like warning labels and whatnot, and there was rumbling and echoing that seemed to make it seem like something big was coming down the tunnel.

Wait, we were in a metro...

_**OH, NO!**_

I dashed for her as fast as possible, grabbed her cape, and yanked her out of the way just as a train zoomed by.

I kept a firm grip on her cape and stared at her.

"_**What were you thinking?!**_" I screamed.

"I-I dunno! How was I supposed to know that would happen?!" She shouted, "This is new to me!"

Right... she was an alien. I let go of her cape.

"I guess that's true," I muttered, "But either way, this is a _**perfect **_example why you don't go steamrolling into something you've never seen before."

She then pointed down where the train went.

"We have to go that way," She said.

"Well it doesn't seem like a train's gonna be stopping for us any time soon..." I muttered.

"What if we climb on top of a train?" She asked.

"You really have a death wish, don't you...?" I grumbled.

"No... think about it. It's the only way we can get to where we need to go," She said, "You just said a train probably won't be stopping here soon, so why don't we just sneak on top of it and go?"

"That could be extremely dangerous. What if the tunnel suddenly narrows so only the train fits through? Then we're dead," I stated.

"If we don't try to get the Time Pieces back, then for all we know everyone on this planet could be dead, us included. We don't have a choice, even if it'll just get us killed," She countered, "If you won't come with me, then I'll just go by myself. So make up your mind."

... It could truly surprise me at times just how serious and just how stubborn she could be.

But in that case, I didn't really have a choice.

"Fine. But if you get us killed, I'll never let you hear the end of it," I warned.

She smirked.

"Well, let's get going," She said, then hopped on top of a food cart. Fortunately, the cat vendor either didn't notice or didn't care. I followed suit and hopped on top of it as well.

We then waited for a train.

After what felt like an eternity, another one came.

It was also then that I noticed the trains were being pulled by giant cats, as absurd as that sounds.

"Let's go!" She shouted, then hopped on top of it, zooming off.

"Peck me..." I grumbled.

The next few seconds were filled with conflicting thoughts. _Jump... don't jump... jump... don't jump..._

Until I had enough and just said 'screw it'.

I hopped on top of the train, just at the end of it, and zoomed off into the distance.

The sudden speed nearly knocked me over, but I stayed upright and began walking along the top of the train, feeling the air whizz by.

Anticlimactically, the ride was over just as quickly as it began and I hopped onto solid ground once again.

The kid was standing next to another cat-rumbi and hopped on top of it, sending her upward. I did the same.

When I landed, I saw a much larger tunnel ahead, and another train going through it. I peeked over the edge and saw another opening a little ways away.

"I guess subways work differently here than where I come from," I said.

She shrugged her shoulders, and we continued moving forward.

After a short while we came to a small area. There was a cat Rumbi tucked away in the corner, a small puddle of orange- soda? Grease? Something like that- on the floor, and the way ahead was way too high to jump up to. The area was also too large to make walljumping feasible.

I heard a sliding noise, a startled grunt, and a splat.

I turned around, and the kid had fallen into the puddle.

"Really, kid?" I said.

She got up and shrugged her shoulders, then was suddenly launched upwards.

Where she was standing, the cat rumbi from earlier was sitting. It then turned around and vroomed back to where it was sitting earlier.

"Well, now..." I said.

The kid landed, somehow perfectly clean.

"Do it again," I said, "But this time, run over to beneath the gap."

She tilted her head and nodded slowly before doing as I said. Sure enough, the rumbi saw her covered in grime and took off after her. When it was right under the gap, we both quickly launched off of it and up into the gap.

"And that's how it's done," I flaunted.

We hopped on a train in front of us-kinda funny how normal that would sound out of context-and it took us through a large tunnel until we came out into what seemed to be the main part of the Metro and hopped off the train.

"Woah," was all I could say.

There were so many colours and lights... signs, trains... it was like everything was neon! This entire subway network seemed like neon! It truly was a sight to behold.

I turned to the kid, who was just as astounded by the sight.

"Let's get looking now," I said.

She snapped out of her awe and nodded. We began walking forward, and I began to look off in the distance for any signs of Time Pieces.

"Found it," She whispered.

"What?" I said, "Where?"

"Right in front of us," She answered.

I looked in front of us, and there was a cat with a mask holding a Time Piece.

They must've caught us looking, cause they ran off.

"Oh no you don't!" I hissed under my breath, and we ran after them.

A few knocks to the head and they were eating dust.

The kid took the Time Piece and smiled at it.

I saw two cats approach us, one tall and one short, and they did not look happy. The short one was holding a baseball bat.

"Oh, that ain't good," I muttered to myself.

"That belongs to the boss!" The tall one shouted.

"No way!" The kid shouted, then gave me the Time Piece, which I held over my shoulder.

I felt it ripped from my hand.

"Thank you for bringing this to me," A female voice said menacingly, and I turned around.

This cat was as tall as me! She was wearing a very expensive looking fur coat, multiple pieces of jewelry, and had a scar under her left eye. Her claws also looked extremely sharp.

"Who do you work for?" She asked me.

"Ourselves," I answered.

"No one?" She said, then grinned at the Time Piece in her hand. "Well..." She said, putting it away, then began walking in circles around us. "I can't have you two running around, inter_**FERING**_ with my jewel business," She shouted, startling both of us. "So..."

She then stepped toward me so we were face-to-face.

"_**You work for me now.**_"

She then stepped away and threw something green at me, which I caught.

When I looked at it, my jaw dropped.

It was a _**HEFTY **_wad of cash.

"Come to my store, we have business to discuss."


	45. Chapter 44: Menacing

Chapter 44: Menacing

**A/N: Ha... it's been awhile, hasn't it? Even longer than last time, heh. Once again, I'd lost motivation to write. I was **_**GONNA **_**write earlier, but then things updated that I wanted to play. Had things to do IRL.**

**So whenever I wanted to, I was busy.**

**I'll **_**TRY **_**to get back to a normal schedule, but I'm managing four stories at once across two different websites for four different games. **

**Things happen. I'll do my best to work around them.**

**Oh, also, I'm not doing a Christmas special. For this, I have three reasons. 1: I simply don't want to; 2: I have no idea what I'd do for a Christmas special; and 3: not many chapters have passed since the Halloween special. It'd be odd to have both the Halloween and Christmas specials crammed so close together.**

**Hope that's not too much of a disappointment.**

**But anyway, on with the chapter!**

We followed her a short distance into a jewelry store.

Right, she said she was running a jewel business.

I wondered how she got all the fancy jewelry displayed around the store.

Then a thought hit me: it'd probably be better not to know.

I walked up to a checkout, where our new... uh... employer was waiting.

"So... what did you want to discuss?" I asked uncomfortably.

She put the Time Piece down on the checkout.

"There are more of these, I'm sure. You two seem... talented at finding them," She stated calmly, yet still menacingly.

God... practically everything about her screamed 'menacing'

"That we are," I responded.

"So, I pay you, and you bring me more. It's a simple arrangement," She declared.

Bah... so we'd have to hand them over to her in exchange for being allowed to roam free. It seemed like the opposite of what Snatcher did, yet in an ironically bad way.

But it seemed like we wouldn't have a choice. We'd have to get them back one way or another, whether we buy them back, work for them, or maybe...

No, no, no. Absolutely not.

"Start looking by the Yellow Overpass, I'm sure you can find your way," She ordered.

I nodded slowly.

"Now be on your way, and don't come back empty-handed," She said ominously.

I nodded rapidly, turned around, and got out of there as soon as possible.

I took a deep breath as soon as we were out of her presence.

I saw that there was a tunnel that had yellow lighting right in front of us. Seemed like the way to go.

I felt a tug on my sweater and turned to see the kid giving me a concerned look.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm fine," I reassured her, "It's just..."

I shuddered.

"That woman gives me the chills," I admitted, "Like for the most part, I fear no one. But that cat... or whatever she is... it scares me."

She tilted her head.

"Yeah, she doesn't seem like someone we wanna get mad," She agreed, "We should probably go through with this and find another way to get the Time Pieces back. She doesn't seem to know what they can do, and she seems to consider them as only a method of profit, so hopefully that means we won't have to worry about... well... you know..."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," I said, "But anyway, we should probably stop talking and get going."

She nodded, and we began walking.

"Hey! You two!" I heard a cat shout.

I whipped around, and there were three of them awaiting us.

"We're not here to cause trouble," I said.

"What? No!" The same cat said, "You're the new two, right?"

"Uh, I guess," I responded.

"Well if you're gonna work for The Empress, then you gotta look the part!" They shouted.

'The Empress'? That's her name?

I shuddered slightly.

"Come over here," The cat said.

I looked down at the kid, who shrugged her shoulders. We followed the three cats over to an area beside the jewelry store.

The kid began talking to the first one, and long story short she ended up buying a mask, a jacket that almost looked like something you'd see in a college, then... a baseball bat...?

Err... whatever. Maybe she'd keep it as a souvenir.

I then stepped forward and looked down at the cat.

"Got anything for me?" I asked.

"Uh... no. The jacket she bought is the largest size they come in," They answered, "But you still have to look the part, so..."

The cat then jumped up and attached something to the top of my head and the back of my sweater.

"There! Now you're one of us," They said.

"Okay?"

I saw the kid looking at me like she was about to laugh.

What did that cat put on me?

I walked over to a puddle and looked down into my reflection.

There were now cat ears sticking out of the top of my head. In that case, I guessed that they'd also attached a fake tail to the end of my sweater.

"Oh, wonderful," I said sarcastically. "I. Look. Ridiculous. I'll take these off the first chance I get," I grumbled.

"No you won't!" The kid promised, "I won't let you!"

I sighed deeply.

What did I get myself into _THIS_ time?

"Lemme see how I look!" She shouted.

Somehow in that short span of time she managed to put on her new jacket and mask. She then clapped her hands together rapidly and jumped into the air.

"I love it!" She shouted, "Now people will know not to mess with me!"

She then took out her new baseball bat, flipped it around, and then held it behind her head menacingly.

What the...

"Uh... what are you doing?" I asked her.

She giggled and put the baseball bat away.

"Just having fun," She said, "Why?"

"Uh... no particular reason," I muttered, "But... uh... don't you think your new weapon is a bit... well... brutal for you?"

She shrugged her shoulders non-chalantly.

"Well, I mean, you know how strong I am. I could hurt someone badly with any weapon, whether it be an umbrella, bat, or whatever," She said.

"That's not making me feel any better!" I grumbled.

"Not like I would!" She shouted, "Come on! You know me. I'm just trying to have fun! Okay?"

"Alright," I conceded. "Not like I could tell you what to do anyway," I muttered jokingly, "Now... can we finally get a move on?"

She was already way ahead of me.

"Come on!" She shouted.

"Dammit, kid..." I muttered under my breath, then ran after her. "You need to learn to _**WAIT FOR ME!**_"


	46. Chapter 45: A Very Bad Sign

Chapter 45: A Very Bad Sign

**A/N: Been awhile, hasn't it? God... I feel like a fricking broken record, repeating the same lines and the same excuses. Well... uh... this time, Christmas kinda curbstomped my schedule. I didn't have much time to do really anything. HOPEFULLY I can return to _some_ normality, but I dunno. I'm writing 4 stories for 4 games across 2 different websites, after all. It's kinda hard to manage it all at once.**

**I'll do the best I can, and that's just how it's gonna have to be.**

**Oh... but on another note, happy new year. Hehe.**

I chased after the kid through the tunnel, past some food vendors, and caught up to her in front of another train track.

"If I had a pon for every time you've gone off without me..." I muttered..

She giggled.

"Sorry!" She apologized light-heartedly.

"It's alright, you're just excited. You want to explore. Can't fault you for that," I responded.

I watched a series of trains zoom by us one by one.

"Doesn't seem like any of the trains are stopping soon," I muttered, "It makes me wonder... where _do _they stop? Or when? How do people get on? How do people get off? What's the point of having a metro station if no trains stop there, or rarely?"

"Do you really have to question _everything?_" She asked boredly.

"Well... it's kinda my thing. This place is so much different than where I come from, it's only natural that I question the things that confuse me," I reasoned, "And this is confusing."

"But it's like everywhere we go, you ramble on and on about some _weird thing _that you don't understand. It's boring!" She pouted.

"If it's really annoying you that much, I guess I can wait until we get back to the ship," I muttered.

"Thank you," She said, "Now, a train's coming! Come on!"

She hopped on top of a hanging light fixture then landed on top of a train.

Once again, it seemed to me like it was going to be a long day.

I scrambled on top of the train as fast as I could and crept to the front...

... and barely avoided a neon sign, _what a surprise._

"I knew it!" I yelled.

There were a couple more along the way that I (barely) managed to jump over or sidestep away from.

The kid hopped toward a ledge, and I did as well.

"Kid, one of us is gonna get a face full of glass shards and electrified neon gas, and that one of us is not going to enjoy it," I grumbled.

"And that 'one of us' is just gonna have to deal with it and keep going," She stated blankly before hopping on another train.

"Just don't say I didn't warn you," I muttered, then hopped on the train as well.

After hopping over a couple more neon signs and jumping over to another ledge, it seemed like we were actually at the main Yellow Overpass station.

"I wonder if people really get around this way..." I muttered silently to myself.

I walked around and surveilled the area, looking for a place to start looking. There seemed to be a tunnel leading down, but one look told me that it led to the blue station or whatever it was called.

So... it seemed like the only way to go was up.

Not surprisingly, the kid was already like ten miles ahead of me.

I hopped on a train and jumped up to a ledge to catch up to her, and I found her sitting down in front of a yellow holographic wall.

"So, uh..." I said, "This place is pretty big. Maybe you should use your hat."

She nodded and took off her mask to put on her top hat again.

I waited a few seconds, and she let out a "hmm" sound.

"What?" I asked.

"There's two in this station. One way up and another way down," She said, "I think one is... in a manhole?"

"Sounds like a job for you," I said.

"So you'll get the other one?" She asked.

"I'll try to," I answered.

She hopped up happily and shouted "okay" before running off.

"Be safe, kid," I whispered.

I then put a hand to my chin as I thought about where to go.

_'There's two in this station. One way up and another way down.'_

I looked up and saw a springboard on top of a food cart.

I climbed on top of it while saying a quick "pardon me", then hopped on top of the springboard.

There was a train going by right in front of me.

"It's like this planet is a freaking platformer game," I grumbled.

Another train zoomed by beside the other train, going the opposite way. I hopped onto that as well.

An air conditioning unit was approaching. I hopped on top of it, then onto yet another train.

A smirk crept onto my face. Not gonna lie, riding on top of the trains was pretty fun.

It didn't seem anywhere near as risky as those damn ziplines in Alpine Skyline.

_CRASH!_

"AH!"

In my lapse, I found myself barreling into a neon sign.

Somehow, I didn't get burned or electrocuted by hot gas, nor did I get lacerated with glass shards, but it still hurt like _hell._

"Ok... I need to focus," I grumbled.

I hopped over the next sign, then rode along until I saw something interesting.

It seemed like a cat was being a ticket vendor?

I hopped off the train and landed in front of it.

"Want a Metro Ticket?" The cat vendor asked.

"Uh, I'll need two, please," I said.

"Okay, that'll be 20 pons," They declared.

I handed over the money and they handed over two yellow cards with the metro logo on the front and a sentence or something that I couldn't read. They also had black stripes across the bottom and the word "TICKET" on the top right.

"Thanks," I said.

"Anytime," They responded.

I walked away and waited for another train to come by, then hopped back on.

I rode it for a bit, dodging a couple more signs along the way, then I saw some floating signs that I could probably clamp onto with the hookshot to get to another train.

I reacted quickly and did so, landing at the front of another train. For once, there wasn't a billion signs in the way, it was a relaxing ride. I came to another train track coming out of the wall and hopped onto the edge of a train.

I stumbled a bit from the sudden change in momentum but I _thankfully _managed to stay on... uh... barely.

I looked ahead and grinned from ear to ear to see the Time Piece full steam ahead.

I hopped forward and snatched it.

"Good, good," I muttered, "Now how the peck do I get down from here?"

I felt something grab my shoulder and all went black.

A few seconds later and I was back at the Yellow Overpass.

"Miss me?" A smug yet familiar voice taunted.

"I guess you could say that," I grumbled.

"If I had a pon for every time I've had to help you out..." 'The Traveller' mocked.

"Yeah..." I muttered.

"Try not to get yourself stuck again. I can't be in thirty places at once, and I'm too busy to be watching you like a hawk," He warned, "You've just been really lucky with me so far."

"Alright, makes sense to me," I responded.

I walked over to where I saw the kid run off to and waited for her to return.

I didn't have to wait long. She popped out of the manhole less than a minute later.

"Find it?" I asked, and she nodded.

Great, at this rate we'd be done in no time.

We walked out of the small area, and two cats were waiting for us, one small and one tall. Was it the same cats who confronted us at the main station? It was impossible to tell. The small one had a baseball bat.

"You know the deal. Hand them over!" The tall one shouted.

Right... I'd completely forgotten about our little deal.

I sighed.

"Well, you heard 'em, kid," I said, reluctantly giving the Time Piece to the cat, who snatched it rudely from my hand.

The kid did the same, and as the cats left I could hear her begin grumbling and pouting.

"We'll have to figure out some way to get them back. Maybe we can bargain with her?" I asked, "But for now, we'll have to go along with it. Let's go back to the jewelry shop, she'll probably want to see us."

She nodded, and we walked away.


	47. Chapter 46: Cleaning the Green Station

Chapter 46: Cleaning the Green Station

**A/N: Well now. It's been over three weeks. Do I have another excuse for the delay?**

**Well, I mean... I was gonna get this chapter out sooner, but...**

**Games got updated. I started playing new ones. And then the past few days I've been feeling miserable. Exhaustion, a constant headache, inability to sleep, and just a general feeling of crappiness.**

**Sometimes, I **_**literally **_**feel halfway to death.**

**...Yet I thought I should put something out for you guys, cause it's been awhile and leaving this story alone for awhile makes me guilty.**

We ended up at a yellow holographic wall, which showed a checkmark as I stepped closer. It confused me for a second, as I had no idea why it might've been doing that, but then I remembered that I bought two tickets.

With that thought, I gave one of them to the kid, and to test it out I attempted to walk through the holograph. Sure enough, it disappeared and I walked right through it, ending up right back at the main station.

I motioned for the kid to follow, and we made our way to The Empress' jewelry store.

The two cats from earlier walked by us on the way there, and when we stepped inside, she was examining two Time Pieces, likely the ones that we just collected.

We walked toward her, and she put them away and grinned intimidatingly.

"You're back? And you collected two more Time Pieces for me... good," She said, then tossed two stacks of cash at me, which I caught.

Looking at the amount of money... we were gonna be rich after this.

"Our little arrangement is working out well. See that it continues to," She stated, "And since it's going so well, you shouldn't have any trouble buying some metro passes. You won't get around much without them, after all."

"We've already bought a couple," I said, holding up the yellow pass. "We fully searched the Yellow Overpass station and got all the Time Pieces there. Any idea where to go next?"

"If you're certain there's none left there..." She muttered, "Search around the Green Clean station. You shouldn't have any trouble finding it."

'Green Clean' station, huh?

Something told me it wouldn't be as 'clean' as its name suggested.

I nodded and turned to leave. "Come on, kid."

We left, and it seemed fairly certain that the large amount of green neon lights coming from above us signalled where we were supposed to go.

"We gotta get them back," The kid grumbled, "Maybe we could steal them back. I don't wanna make her mad, but it's Time Pieces we're dealing with. We gotta get them back _somehow!_ Who knows what she would do with them?"

"Yeah," I said, "Only if we absolutely have to. I think that cat would go to hel-heck and back to get revenge if she knew we betrayed her."

"We could try talking to her," She suggested again.

"I find it hard to believe she'd give them back to us out of pity. I don't think she feels pity for anyone," I pondered, "...but I dunno. Who knows, maybe we can work for her or something. Have her pay them back to us for being good workers."

"I dunno," She said.

"But

"But we should get going. Talking and messing around can wait," I reccomended.

She nodded in agreement.

Now that we'd agreed on this, I walked over to the entrance to the Green Clean station and looked up at it.

How were we gonna get up there?

I took a few steps back and slipped in a puddle of goop, getting it all over me.

Then a robotic meow came from the wall.

"Oh."

I felt something bump into me, then I was launched into the air. I dove for the entrance and landed in it, and found myself clean.

I looked down at the kid, who was staring up at me blankly.

"Well don't just stand there!" I shouted with a grin.

A few seconds later and she was bounced up as well.

"Let's see what's hiding here," The kid said, then closed her eyes.

I waited patiently, and she suddenly clapped her hands.

"What's the situation?" I asked.

"Same thing," She said, "One's in a manhole, the other's up near the top."

"I guess you'll be grabbing the manhole one again? Cause I won't be able to," I asked.

She nodded with a "mhm" sound.

"Well, good luck," I said.

"You too, bye!" She said, then ran over to a rumbi somehow attached to the wall and bounced out of sight.

I shook my head. I didn't really like the idea of her being by herself in this place, but we didn't really have a choice.

Also, we were the Empress' goons. If something happened, she wouldn't like it.

I bounced off of the same rumbi, then walked over to another rumbi sticking out of the wall. Wasn't quite sure how they'd managed to do that, but at this point I decided to stop questioning things.

A small bit of bouncing later, and I found myself standing next to another ticket vendor, which was good to see. This time, there was a lineup in front of it, but it wasn't big. It was like two or three cats, I probably wouldn't be a long waiting time.

So instead of being rude and butting to the front like some jerk, I went to the back and waited. Sure enough, the lineup went by quickly, and I bought a couple more metro passes, these ones being green.

However, the change in colour made me curious.

"How many different metro passes are there?" I asked.

"There are exactly four, one for each of the stations in this metro," The vendor replied, "You'll find the other vendors in the other stations."

"Alright, thanks," I said, then walked away.

Remembering what the kid said, I reckoned that I'd probably have to get as high up as possible.

I looked up and saw a couple more rumbis sticking to walls that could get me higher, and hopped up and onto the first one.

A little bit of bouncing, and I landed on top of a ledge.

Off in the corner, I noticed a blue wooden springboard covering what seemed to be a tunnel leading down. I stepped down on the springboard with all my might, but it would hardly move.

"Well, damn. If only the kid were here," I grumbled.

"May I be of assistance?"

I turned around to see the Badge Seller standing there.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here," I muttered.

"I know every place in this planet," He responded, "The child is not here?"

I nodded.

"Well... in that case, if I might ask... has anything changed since we last talked? Has there been any changes with... _him?_" He asked.

Odd question...

"Uh... not really. _Before _we talked, he told me that _you _were the one I shouldn't trust," I explained, "But he helped me get down from a place where I was stuck today."

He seemed deep in thought.

"Hm. I suppose that's for the better. Perhaps he's had a change of heart. I wouldn't count on it, though," He thought aloud, "But... on another note, I have acquired another badge for you, and I am willing to give it to you for free."

"Oh?" I said, "What is it?"

He smiled ever so slightly. "It's a badge I like to call... the Megaton badge," He said.

I grinned. "That's a good name," I said, "I'm gonna guess that it allows me to do a move with lots of force behind it?"

"Yes, it will allow you to slam the ground with your baton with enough force to create a small shockwave. You could use it to bounce off of those blue springboards, or for combat," He said, tossing it toward me.

I looked at it. It showed a hooded figure in a state of slamming the ground with an indiscernable weapon hard enough to crack the ground.

"Cool, that's just what I needed. Thanks, Badge Seller," I thanked.

"But of course, for my best customer," He said, "Before I depart, have you tried using the Shadow Badge yet?"

Oh right! I spent a fortune on that thing just to completely ignore it!

"Aha, nope. I've completely forgotten about it," I laughed.

"Well, do try using it sometime soon. Perhaps I could assist you with it," He said, "It is an Ultra Badge, after all. You will want some help if it... ah... misbehaves."

"Well that's not foreboding at all," I muttered sarcastically, "But I've got bigger fish to fry right now."

"Of course. Find me in Subcon Forest when you have the time and I can assist you with learning to control the badge," He advised.

"Alright, I'll do that. Thanks again," I thanked him again.

He nodded, and I turned around. "Good luck with the Time Pieces... and the Empress," He said forebodingly. I turned around, and he was gone.

"Why do people like being so ominous here?" I grumbled, replacing the Whirlwind Badge with the new badge.

I then walked over to the blue pad again.

"Here goes," I muttered, then hoisted the baton over my head.

I struck downward, and as I swung, it felt like the baton suddenly weighed 100x more, and it slammed into the springboard with enough force to not only open it, but it also broke some of it off.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to be careful with this," I said, then re-attatched the Whirlwind Badge.

Now that that was done with, I decided to get a move on. The kid had probably already collected her Time Piece and was likely waiting for me.

I looked on the wall to see a rumbi driving back and forth across it... which meant they weren't attached to the wall... but anyway, I waited for it to come close then jumped onto it, launching me off toward a platform.

I caught the ledge of said platform and scrambled on top of it, then did a bit of hopping and bird-dodging to get across some platforms and over to yet another rumbi.

I scanned the trajectory and saw that it would launch me right on top of a train if I timed it right, and looking around, I could see that doing so would lead me right to the Time Piece.

So, I waited for my chance, bounced off of the robotic vacuum cleaner, landed on the train, then jumped over to the Time Piece and grabbed it.

"That's number three... or four. Either or," I muttered.

I looked over the edge and saw the Green Clean station not far below, so I jumped down and landed gracefully as a sudden burst of air cushioned my fall.

"Took you long enough!"

I turned around to see the kid impatiently standing there holding a Time Piece.

"The Badge Seller interrupted me, okay?" I said, "Not my fault!"

"Well that was boring," She complained, "I hope the next station only has one so we can stick together."

"Well, how many do you think are left?" I asked.

"I dunno," She said, "Like two to four?"

"Oh, and before I forget..." I muttered, then tossed her a green metro pass.

"Cool," She said, "This one is green, so there's one for each station!"

"Yep," I said, "I wonder when..."

I heard footsteps.

"...the cats are coming..." I finished.

I turned around to face them.

This time, the lanky cat didn't even say anything. He just motioned for us to give him the Time Pieces.

I sighed and gave it to him, and so did the kid.

As the cats walked away, I shook my head.

This was turning out to be one giant mess for us.

We'd have to figure out _some _way to get them back.

"Well, let's go talk to The Empress again, I guess," I muttered miserably, "Then maybe we can take a bit of a break."

The kid nodded.

Then it seemed like a plan.

I was beginning to get tired of the assault of neon anyway.


	48. Chapter 47: Reprieve

Chapter 47: Reprieve

**A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter. I guess I just didn't have much to write for this particular one.**

**My motivation to write has begun to come back to me, so **_**hopefully **_**that means I can start writing more often, y'know...**

**But yeah. I could've had this story finished a long time ago, it's time I make up for the time I wasted.**

It didn't take long for us to get back to the Empress's shop. When we got there, though, the doors were closed and all the windows were covered from the inside.

"Uhh," The kid said.

"This is weird," I said, "Well, let's go in."

I opened the door and walked in. My blood ran cold at the sight. I heard the kid gasp quietly.

The Empress, who was very... no... _extremely _angry, was standing in front of the counter holding one of her goons in the air by their neck.

"Are you _trying _to play a trick on me?!" She hissed.

"N-no, I'm not, I swear!" The goon answered, clearly terrified. "I'd never lay a paw on your jewelry!"

The Empress was unfazed. "Then _why _did I find your _**cat hair on it?!**_" She shouted as she pulled out a strand of black hair.

She didn't give the goon a chance to answer before she _threw them at the freaking wall._

A horrible crashing or crunching noise was heard, and the goon stopped moving.

"Dear God!" I said, trying to keep my voice down. She just killed that cat without a second thought! Like a bug!

"Don't let that..." She said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

She then whipped around to face us with a look of pure mercilessness and malice.

"...**Be you!**" She hissed.

I instantly nodded.

She seemed to calm down.

"Now, let's get back to business," She muttered calmly, returning to behind the counter.

We walked over to the counter, but my heart would not stop beating rapidly.

That was a scene that I'd never forget, and I doubt the kid would either.

"Well done," She said, "My organization can always use more people like you."

She tossed more cash to me, which I grabbed and pocketed.

"There's a place for you here, both of you, provided you don't... disappoint me," She said, "Still, I hear my little collection isn't quite complete, so get back to it."

But we had other plans...

"Actually... uh... we were hoping to maybe take a small break. Like maybe a day or two off," I muttered awkwardly.

She didn't seem to like that. Her face twisted into a deep frown, which made me extremely nervous.

"I-if that's okay with you, of course," I stammered, "I mean, we wouldn't wanna get on your bad side or anything."

She didn't respond for a few minutes. I stood there awkwardly as we awaited an answer.

"Fine," She said, "You've done well so far, I suppose you've earned a small reprieve."

I sighed with relief.

"You get one full day. _One. _I expect you both to be back here in the morning two days from now. If you don't show..." She growled.

I scratched my head uncomfortably.

"I don't think I need to explain what will happen," She finished ominously.

"Duly noted," I said, "Let's go, kid."

"Thank you," She said, and we left.

As we exited the building, a thought came to my head.

How would we leave without a Time Piece?

I voiced this concern to the kid, who just smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

We snuck away to an abandoned section of the metro, and the kid pulled out a Time Piece.

She had one in her possession this whole time.

I suppose it made sense, as it'd be kinda foolhardy to go down and just _hope _you found a Time Piece to get back.

If you didn't, you'd be stuck until you did. Not fun.

She grabbed my hand and raised the Time Piece into the air. It glowed brightly as usual, but nothing happened.

She tried shaking it and whatnot, but it didn't work.

"Weird," I muttered, "Is it because we're underground?"

"I guess that makes sense," She replied, "We gotta get out of here, somehow."

"We could ask around," I suggested.

She nodded.

So, we returned to the main area. I looked around for someone to ask, then I stopped at the center.

There was a circular booth with four cats sat behind it, and a pillar in the center with a neon sign of the four stations' logos circling around the top and a lowercase 'I' icon on all four sides below that.

"That seems like an information booth over there," I thought aloud, "We could try our luck there."

"Okay," The kid said.

I approached one of the four cats, who seemed to notice me.

"Welcome to the Nyakuza Metro Information Booth. How can I help you?" They greeted.

So that's what this place was called? Nyakuza Metro?

That was actually a pretty cool name, not gonna lie.

"Uh, we're kinda lost. We need help finding the way out of here," I explained.

"Well, there's a few ways to leave the Metro," The cat said, "You could take the train at the edge of the Yellow Overpass tunnel, it stops there once an hour. If you take it, the very next stop after that leads outside. There's also an escape tunnel in the Bluefin Tunnel, but it's a dangerous passage and should only be used in emergencies. If you have no other choice, y'know."

Ah.

That answered... uh... more questions than one.

I quickly thanked them, then we took their advice and waited at the end of the yellow tunnel.

Sure enough, after a few minutes a train stopped there, and we got on.

As the train took off again, I turned to the kid and grinned.

"Now _this _is how you ride a train, kid," I joked.

She giggled.

Sure enough, when we got off at the next stop, it didn't take long for us to find the way outside. We found ourselves back in a big city in some plaza area, lots of flashy advertizing and whatnot adorning the buildings.

There were far too many people around, so we wandered away until we found a little alcove where we return to the ship in peace.

"Now, let's try this again," I muttered,

She nodded and pulled out the Time Piece. She grabbed my hand and pointed the Time Piece at the sky, and a few seconds later we were back in the ship.

I took a deep breath of relief.

"Well, at least there's that," I said.

I sauntered over to my hammock and hopped in.

I didn't sleep. I just relaxed.

I sat there in peace for... I dunno how long, until...

_**INTRUDER ALERT!**_

_**INTRUDER ALERT!**_

I got up and immediately whipped around to see who came crawling in.

I gritted my teeth and balled my fists when I saw who was standing there.


	49. Chapter 48: Old Wounds

Chapter 48: Old Wounds

**A/N: So this took a bit longer than usual. Ironic, considering I already disliked how long I was taking to put out my chapters. I don't have any (good) excuses, so I won't waste your time with them.**

**I do have one thing I DO wanna talk about, though.**

**So... this story has gone on for quite awhile. Perhaps it's the shorter chapter length, but no matter. This realization has caused me to make a decision.**

**What is this decision? Well...**

**When the story of the main game ends, this book will, as well. But don't fret, I'm merely splitting what I had planned into two separate books, cause if I kept them as one I felt it'd be far too long.**

**It'd probably be like... 70-90 chapters long. Insane. So I'm probably gonna split it into two, idk. Having a story **_**that long**_** seems kinda crazy to me.**

**But that's still a little while away, so on with the show.**

DJ Grooves, afro and all, standing right there. In the ship. For once he wasn't doing his stupid, obnoxious idle dance.

"You've got some nerve coming here," I hissed.

"I... had a feeling you'd say that," He muttered.

"You here to take back _'your' _Time Piece? Finish what you started ages ago?" I spat.

He stared straight at me.

"Absolutely _not,_" He scoffed, "I'm here to apologize, darling."

I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"Apologize?" I heard the kid ask, from her bedroom door.

She must've heard the commotion and came to see what was going on.

"You don't need to worry yourself with this joker, kid. I can deal with him," I told her.

She shook her head.

"No, let him talk," She said.

I sighed and turned back to the penguin, crossing my arms.

"You wanted to apologize so you broke into her spaceship to do that?" I asked, putting as much disbelief into my voice as possible.

"Please, let me explain," He begged, then sighed. "You see, darlings, when I woke up after... uh... our little... well... you know..."

"After you tried to murder us," I stated blankly.

"Y-yes, when I woke up after that, I realized how much of a _monster _I'd been. I just saw a way to finally wipe away my past, all of my failures, and i-it..." He explained shakily.

"It consumed your thoughts," The kid finished for him, "You saw no other alternative. You _had _to change the past, no matter the cost. Right?"

...But she didn't believe him, did she?

He was an _actor!_

"I couldn't have put it a better way, darling," He agreed, "You know, I was originally a DJ. I owned my own nightclub. I was very successful in that profession, but it was never my passion. I loved movies for as long as I could remember, and I always wanted to be a movie director. When I eventually became a movie director..."

He sighed.

"It... didn't go well. The Conductor and I were bitter enemies from the start, and we competed instantly to see who could make the better movies," He narrated, "But I suppose the crowds preferred Conductor's western theme over my science fiction, pop, and dance. I lost award, after award, after award to him. Friends and family told me to go back to being a DJ, that I was embarrassing them as a director. But I ignored them and stuck on through."

"... Your friends and family abandoned you after that, didn't they?" The kid asked sadly and sympathetically.

Oh, right... the family thing... cause she was probably an orphan and all...

She'd definitely be feeling bad for him now.

He nodded.

"Even when I finally won award 42, they didn't care. And why should they have? Winning one award for losing another fourty-one is a poor ratio," He grumbled, then shook his head. "I just wanted to change everything, but that's no excuse for what I did. _Nothing _could excuse what I did. And for that..."

He took a deep breath, then shook his head rapidly.

"I'm so, so sorry, darlings!" He shouted, "I never want to see another one of those Time Pieces ever again!"

We were both silent.

I wasn't exactly expecting this.

But I still didn't trust him.

_"It's just you and me now, darling!"_

_"Looks like it's bedtime for you, darling. Forever."_

I shook my head.

"You verbally assault us, lie to us, put us in danger, withhold a Time Piece from us, _attack _us when we try to take it back, get me stabbed, and _**almost kill the kid,**_ then you break into our spaceship afterward and expect us to believe that you just changed? Just like _that?_" I spat, snapping my fingers at the end, "If you truly have changed, then you can apologize by _never _showing your face again."

"Wait!" The kid shouted.

She walked toward the penguin.

"I've been around the Time Pieces all my life," She said, "I know what kind of things they can do to people, especially those with... bad pasts. People have gone insane from exposure to them. Heck, I've even wanted to turn back time a few times."

She giggled.

"Haven't we all?" She asked.

"That is true..." I muttered to myself

"I know you can be a better person than who we saw. So you know what? I forgive you," She stated.

DJ Grooves took a deep breath.

"Thank you, darling, oh thank you! You really are something special, both of you," He exclaimed, "I think I know a way to show my gratitude."

"No, that's okay," The kid said, "We got our Time Piece anyway."

I frowned. We only got it because it was taken off of his _unconscious body._

"Maybe I can take you two out for ice cream or something sometime. I know the perfect place, darling," He thought aloud, "It's the least I could do, given what happened."

The kid clapped her hands.

Well, well, well.

There's nothing that can make a kid excited like mentioning ice cream. I know _that _from experience.

"That'd be awesome!" She shouted, then she turned to me. "We can go get ice cream with him, right?"

...

Well, it'd be a shame to dampen her excitement.

"I guess so," I said, "But, I mean, it's your ship, kid. You're the one in charge here."

"But didn't you say something about 'being the adult' awhile ago?" She countered.

"That's different," I replied, "I just need to make sure that you're properly taking care of your ship and yourself. That's it. You're the captain of this ship, captain."

She grinned.

"Captain Hat Kid!" She shouted, "I like it!"

I smirked, then took a deep breath.

Now that we were going somewhere with DJ Grooves, I felt like I needed to make something clear to him, but I didn't want the kid to hear it. It'd make her uncomfortable.

So...

"Kid, can you go to your bedroom for a minute? I wanna discuss something with DJ Grooves," I asked.

She gave me a confused look, shrugged her shoulders, and went to her bedroom. Good, we were alone now.

"Something wrong, darling?" He asked.

"Yes, something _is _wrong," I grumbled, then turned and stared at him. "So, you might've won the kid's trust and forgiveness, and you know what? She's a forgiving person. It's not super surprising. But I'm not so lenient," I hissed, "Sure, you can hang out with the kid, but I must make something _**crystal clear. **_I will only say this _**once, **_so you'd better listen carefully."

He visibly gulped.

"If you harm her _**at all, **_even if you _**didn't mean to,**_" I growled slowly and powerfully, "I will _annihilate_ you."

He scratched his head and chuckled nervously.

"I wouldn't dream of it," He said, clearly intimidated, "I'm a changed bird, darling, I promise."

I nodded. That did the trick.

"Good, then we shouldn't have a problem," I muttered, "I'll go get the kid, then we can head out."

I went and got the kid, and the three of us sat in the main hall.

"So, how'd you even get here?" I asked.

"By spaceship, of course!" He exclaimed, then pointed toward the hatch.

There was a decently big cheesy-looking spaceship docked to it. Like something you'd see in an old, low-budget alien movie.

"Oh," I muttered, "I guess that makes sense."

He walked over to the hatch and opened it, then hopped inside his spaceship.

"Come in, darlings! It's perfectly safe," He assured.

I shook my head. This was gonna be something else.

I sighed and entered his spaceship, then the kid did as well, closing the hatch behind her.

I turned around and raised an eyebrow.

I could hardly focus on one thing. There was so much... colourful crap around that it was hard to discern a single item out. The closest thing I could compare it to was like the back of a limousine, except this was a spaceship, and practically everything was holographic and sci-fi.

"Well, I wasn't expecting this," I said, "But I guess I wasn't really expecting anything, so whatever."

I sat down at a couch, and the kid sat down next to me. DJ Grooves remained standing, and the spaceship took off on its own.

"Autopilot?" I asked.

"No, darlin', I have my own hired pilot," He answered.

"Ah. Makes sense," I replied.

"Although, I _did _hear that a company from my hometown has started developing autopiloting systems for spaceships, but so far every test has ended in a crash," He explained, "But I guess that's to be expected. It's just starting out."

"Yeah, it's bound to happen. Failure is natural. You learn from your mistakes and do something better," I muttered.

"Exactly, darling," He agreed.

"Our spaceships don't have autopilot," The kid said suddenly, "Where I come from, simply thinking about creating an autopilot was seen as stupid. People would say that 'depending on a machine for an important task like piloting rather than your own skills is asking for disaster' or something like that."

"Your people seem very intelligent, darling," DJ Grooves complimented her.

She frowned slightly.

"I guess so," She muttered.

The spaceship was filled with an awkward silence. It was then I noticed some music playing in the background, but it didn't help.

"Uh... anyway," I begun, "Where exactly are we going? Somewhere on the moon?"

DJ Grooves nodded.

"There's an ice cream parlour that my parents would always take me to when I was little. It has some of the best ice cream around, and I wanted to share it with you two," He explained.

"That's pretty thoughtful of you," I muttered, "Thank you. However..."

I turned to the kid.

"I have a bad feeling that you and sugar don't mix," I joked.

Both of them started laughing at that.

"You won't be able to keep up with her!" He exclaimed, "I think I should be apologizing!"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I already can't, so it's _really _gonna be something else," I joked.

He laughed again.

A smirk crept on my face, and a thought crept into my mind.

Maybe we could finally be friends, for once...

Because some old wounds were finally beginning to mend.

**A/N (again): So. DJ Grooves has returned. He was bad, but now he's good, right?**

**I realized I'd kinda forgotten about a few NPC's, so the next couple chapters are gonna be for that. And Time Rifts. Cause I kinda forgot about those, too. **

**But now, to answer a review:**

**2lazy2login (i know the feeling btw): Thank you! I appreciate the feedback. It definitely helps with the motivation (although I'd force myself to write a chapter if I had to, haha). This fanfic was kind of an experiment for me, in a way. It was an experiment with first-person writing, and I NEVER would've expected it to blow up like this. It's extremely flattering.**

**Thank you for the review, and thank every one of you for reading!**


	50. Chapter 49: Sugar Rush

Chapter 49: Sugar Rush

**A/N: So, this chapter came out quite a bit sooner than usual. That's because I've decided that I'm going to try to write more. Instead of writing like once or twice a week, maybe more like once every day or two days.**

**My laziness should not decide when I write. If I wanted to be lazy, then I never should've begun writing in the first place. So I'm going to try my damnedest to write a lot more. We'll see how it goes.**

"So, where have you all been, darlings?" DJ Grooves suddenly asked, "I looked high and low for you two and I could never find you, so I'm curious what you've been busying yourselves with."

I looked to the kid, who shrugged her shoulders. The message was clear.

He already knew about the Time Pieces, so it's not like talking about our adventures would hurt.

"Well. We sure have been busy," I muttered, "When I was released from the hospital, we decided to start searching elsewhere for the Time Pieces. Thanks to a friend of ours, we learned about Subcon Forest and started searching there."

"Hold on, darling," He interrupted, "**THE **Subcon Forest?"

"You know the place?" I asked.

"Ha ha... how can I not?" He replied, "The place has spawned so many ghost stories and legends that it's made a name for itself. They say no one who goes there gets out alive, left to the mercy of a dark beast that roams there. Is that true?"

I took a deep breath.

"Yep," I answered miserably, "It is."

"It was until we went there!" The kid boasted smugly.

"So what exactly happened while you were there?" He asked, "I mean, I've heard tales of the place since I was a child, I'd love to know what the deal is with the place."

"Well, shortly after we arrived, we were caught in a trap," I explained, "When we were released from the trap, we saw a giant shadow who forced us to sign a contract to give him our souls and do his dirty work for him. If we didn't, he'd have killed us."

"Oh, that's..." He mumbled, "That's horrendous!"

"No kidding," I grumbled, "I dunno why, but he couldn't take my soul. Probably because I'm... uh... not from around here. So instead, he put magic chains on me so I couldn't leave. But anyway, he made us do a bunch of his contracts for him, but he promised that he'd give us our freedom and/or soul back and let us leave once we were done, and that he'd let us leave with whatever we found on the way, even the Time Pieces. But..."

"He lied, didn't he?" He guessed, "I wouldn't expect a shadow to be that nice."

"Exactly. When we were done, he tried to kill us, but we found his weakness and beat the daylights out of him," I stated proudly, "After that, he practically _begged _us to leave. It was hilarious. We managed to get the kid's soul back and all of the Time Pieces, so after that we left."

"Wow. That's quite something, darling," He muttered, "You know, that'd make for a really good movie."

"Don't get any ideas," I quickly shot him down.

"I was just saying, darling," He defended, "But anyway... did you two troublemakers just get back from Subcon Forest?"

"Oh, no, no," I responded, "That was a little while ago, actually. We explored another place after that."

"The mountains?" He asked.

"How'd you know?" I countered.

"I looked for you two there and the kind people there told me that you'd recently left," He answered.

"Ah," I muttered, then turned to the kid. "Kid, you liked exploring there. Why don't you tell him what happened while we were there?" I suggested.

She quickly shook her head no.

"You sure?" I asked.

She nodded.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Okay then," I said, "So-"

I was interrupted when the ship was suddenly bumped.

"We have arrived!" DJ Grooves exclaimed.

"Not a very gentle landing," I muttered, "I guess we can keep talking about our adventures later."

He shrugged.

We exited the ship to find ourselves on the moon in a parking lot of a strip mall. It wasn't a normal parking lot though, as there were both cars and spaceships parked here. I guessed that the city we were in was different from the one where we shot our movies, because it didn't seem quite as big and busy.

"Come this way, darlings!" He beckoned.

We followed him down the strip mall to a small, homely yet run-of-the-mill ice cream parlour. There was hardly anyone there.

We entered, and a bell rang as we did so.

There was a penguin at the counter, although they looked different from a normal moon penguin with a small black skirt instead of the typical moon penguin garb.

"Oh, Daniel!" The penguin greeted happily, "What a... surprise!"

Daniel? Is that his name?

"Hello, Amy, darling," The DJ greeted relaxedly, "It's sure been awhile. How have you been? How's business?"

"Same as usual," The penguin, named Amy, responded, "I... uh... read the news awhile ago. They're saying some mean things about you. I refuse to believe they're true."

He sighed.

"I was there," I butted in, "Everything's fine. You don't have to worry about him. Right, kid?"

"Yeah!" She exclaimed.

Wasn't a lie, but wasn't fully the truth either. I just didn't want to risk tearing up his relationships with people because of an incident we were moving past.

"Oh, are you one of his friends?" She asked.

"Yes he is," DJ Grooves answered, patting my back, "And a good one at that. I thought I'd take two of my best friends out for a special treat today. They deserve it."

"Well, what are you three waiting for?" She asked.

DJ Grooves laughed.

"I dunno, darling," He replied, and we began our order.

DJ Grooves ordered a large vanilla cone, I got a small chocolate cone for the kid, but I got nothing for myself.

I wasn't here for myself, I was here for the kid.

We sat down and waited for DJ Grooves as he chatted with his friend.

A few minutes later and he sat down next to us.

"You two must be good friends," I guessed.

"That we are, darling," He replied, "We've been best friends for as long as I can remember. She's one of the few people who've stuck with me through thick and thin."

"She seems like the kind of person to do that," I guessed again.

He nodded.

"So, your name's Daniel, eh?" I asked jokingly.

He chuckled.

"What, darling? You didn't think DJ Grooves was actually my name, did you?" He joked back.

"Nah. It's just funny to think about," I responded, "So... where were we?"

"You were going to talk about your adventures in the mountains," He reminded.

"Oh, right," I muttered, "There's not too much to talk about, really. When we got to Alpine Skyline, we explored the different mountain peaks and found four Time Pieces. Except something bad happened after we collected the fourth one."

"Oh?" He mumbled, "What happened?"

"Well, these crazy purple plants bloomed throughout the whole area," I explained.

"That doesn't sound too bad, unless you're allergenic," He said.

"Oh, you don't understand," I countered, "These plants were _**nasty. **_So nasty that their official name is the freaking Death Blossom! They brought a hurricane-force storm with them, and when we tried taking them out, they attacked us like they were sentient! They _almost _killed me, too!"

He seemed completely shocked.

"That's..." He muttered, "That's just... If someone else would've told me that, I'd have assumed they'd lost their birdseed."

'Lost their birdseed'? Was that bird lingo for 'gone insane'? Probably.

"Yeah. It was nuts," I grumbled, "But we're still here, we got rid of them, and we got another Time Piece out of doing so, so oh well."

"Was that awhile ago, too?" He asked.

"Eh... maybe like a week or two ago, I dunno. It's hard to keep track of time, it's felt like a lifetime ago since I first came here," I explained.

"Oh, so what are you two time-travelling explorers up to now, darling?" He asked again.

"Heh," I said, "Have you ever heard of a group called the 'Nyakuza'?"

He flinched.

"Oh... _them,_" He spat, "_**Everyone **_knows them, darling. Everyone fears them. Especially their leader. They're the most vicious, stone-cold gang on the planet. They own an entire metro, and nobody goes down there unless they want bones broken."

"Aha... we did," I replied, "We... kind of work for them now. We find Time Pieces, they take them and pay us large amounts of money in return."

"I thought you were trying to get them back," He stated.

"We are. We're figuring out a way to get them back right now," I explained, "But... The Empress is _fierce. _You think you know how bad she is? Take that and multiply it by ten. She shows no pity for anyone. So I'm thinking we're gonna have to try and bargain with her... somehow."

"Well, I wish you luck, darlings," He wished, "I wouldn't ever want to see those blasted things in the hands of those fiends."

"Thanks, Grooves," I thanked him.

I looked at the kid. She'd already finished her dessert, and she was looking full of energy.

Oh lord...

"We should probably get going. Kid looks like a ticking timebomb over here," I joked, causing her to giggle and the penguin to chuckle.

I got up and looked at the kid.

"Well, kid? What do you say?" I said with a smirk.

"Thank you!" She said happily, then hugged him.

He laughed and patted her back.

"Anytime, darlings," He muttered.

We stepped outside.

"Oh, wait," I said, "Kid, you didn't happen to bring a Time Piece with you, did you?"

She snorted.

"I always do!" She exclaimed, holding one up to the sky.

We returned to the ship, and the kid started running around and giggling like mad.

Oh no...

The kid was already hard enough to keep up with usually.

Now she's on a sugar rush?

This was going to be one _**PECK **_of a time for me.


	51. Chapter 50: A Strange Meeting

Chapter 50: A Strange Meeting

**A/N: The fiftieth chapter. Quite a milestone.**

**It feels like a lifetime ago that I started writing for this story. And good **_**GOD, **_**I was **_**NOT **_**expecting it to blow up this much.**

**50 reviews! 74 favourites! 82 follows!**

_**OVER 39 **__**THOUSAND **__**VIEWS!**_

_**HOW?!**_

**I honestly can't comprehend how pecking insane this is. It's super flattering to think about. **

**So, I'm gonna do the best I can to finish this story off strongly.**

**Unfortunately, after this story is finished I'll probably have to get caught up on my other fanfics. I've basically dropped 3 stories because I was stupid and bit off more than I could chew.**

**But we've still got a good, like, 10 chapters left, at least. So let's keep the train a-rolling.**

So... the rest of the day...

Where do I even begin...?

I had to chase her around the whole damn ship for hours to make sure she didn't do anything dangerous or rash.

But she was always one step ahead. She'd ride around on her poor Rumbi, which continued to try to do its job with a face of extreme exertion. She'd also bounce around, mess with things...

You know, things you'd expect a little girl hyped up on sugar to do.

It was awful.

But, strangely enough, I enjoyed it a bit. Seeing the kid that full of energy, having fun, it made me smile.

Even though she drove me up the pecking wall.

I imagined that attempting to chase after her for so long probably also gave me one heck on an exercise.

But eventually, after God knows how long of attempting to supervise her, I somehow managed to lose track of her.

I was in the main hall, and I couldn't hear her running around, giggling, tampering with anything, or whatever.

"Kid?" I called.

No reply.

Either she was trying to pull a prank on me or she was unable to hear me.

I sighed tiredly.

This was getting out of hand.

I looked in her bedroom, and even poked around a bit in her mountain of pillows. She wasn't there.

I checked the kitchen. Nope.

I checked the engine room, both sides of it. She wasn't there either.

I used my dweller charm and headed down to the lab. Nothing.

I used my new badge to head down the manhole to the storage room, but for naught.

There wasn't many places to hide in the ship, so I was beginning to get confused.

The last place to check was the machine room and gallery.

So I went to the machine room and looked around.

And there she was.

She was sitting at a desk. Her face was pressed against the desk, and I could tell that she was sound asleep.

She must've crashed from the sugar rush.

I couldn't just leave her there, but I also couldn't just wake her up, she was probably exhausted.

So I gently picked her up, walked across the spaceship to her bedroom, and tucked her in.

It was the least I could do.

I walked over to the door to leave, but I stopped and looked back.

And I realized just how lucky I was.

Lucky to be brought from my crappy old life, where it was just the same meaningless garbage every day, to here. Where I finally found purpose and meaning: to finally have something to care about, to protect.

And thus, lucky to have met the kid.

We may not have met on good terms, but looking back, it was actually pretty funny to think about.

It was funny. When I was back there, I thought I was home when in reality I was lost, and when I was brought here I thought I was lost when in reality I was home.

Ironic.

But I now knew where home really was. Here. With the kid. With our friends.

And it would always be that way.

With that thought, I shut the lights off and walked out.

I hopped in my hammock and took a deep breath.

I still wanted to go back to my homeworld someday. If it was possible. But that would only be for the sake of my memories and to maybe tell any friends or family where I was and say goodbye to them.

I mean, it _was_ frustrating that I still didn't have all my memories back. I still didn't even know my _own name!_

I didn't know if I ever _would _get all of my memories back. Remember who I really was.

But if I didn't... it didn't matter. I knew who I was now, and who I wanted to be. Where I wanted to be.

The thought brought a smile to my face.

...

I must've fallen asleep soon after that thought.

I found myself... somewhere. It was too blurry all around to see anything clearly...

Except for right in front of me.

I saw a young boy standing there. He must've been around the kid's age, maybe a bit older. He had black hair and was wearing black dress pants and a red dress shirt, accompanied by a small white tie.

He seemed to be talking to someone, but I couldn't make out the words.

Strangely, I felt like I could... read his personality, although I couldn't tell why.

He seemed...

Well.

He seemed... a bit like me.

Snarky. Pessimistic. Not exactly full of energy, but not relaxed either. I could also sense self-doubt.

I could tell he was fighting his self-doubt, but it was still there, clear as day.

What I felt the strongest was a burning desire to keep someone or something safe.

He would die a thousand times over to keep it or them safe.

Heh... like me with the kid.

"Who are _you?_"A voice hissed.

I snapped back into focus and found the young man staring directly at me.

I scratched the back of my head and shrugged my shoulders.

"How... did you get here?" He asked.

"I'm in a dream," I answered, "None of this is real."

"Seems pretty real to me. To me, you just appeared out of nowhere," He muttered.

Well that was odd. It didn't even really _feel_ like a dream, now that I thought about it.

He was staring at me. I stared back.

"You... you and I are... we're alike, aren't we?" He asked.

"I believe so," I responded, "We both have something to protect. To care about."

He raised an eyebrow and frowned.

"How do you know that?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders again, and he crossed his arms.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, no, we always see strangers appear in our spaceship without the alarm going off that seem to be able to read my mind," He said sarcastically.

I chuckled.

"Fair enough," I said.

I heard a high-pitched muffled voice, and he looked over his shoulder.

"Huh?" He said.

More muffled voice.

"... It's nothing," He said.

He then turned around and looked back at me.

"Look, as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I have things to do," He said impatiently.

"I get it," I replied, "You seem like you've got a lot on your plate."

He nodded, then turned around and took a few steps, before stopping and turning to face me again.

"... Good luck," He suddenly said.

It dawned on me that he was able to read my emotions, too. He was wishing me luck with something he saw in me.

I nodded slowly. It all made sense.

"You too, kid," I responded.

He walked away, and it all suddenly vanished. Like a mirage.

I now found myself floating in an empty void. Alone.

And I woke up, remembering it all vividly.

"Huh..." I muttered, "That was odd. Didn't even really feel like a dream."

It was interesting, too. That 'Tie' person and I had a lot in common.

But... it couldn't have been real, could it? Just because it _felt _real didn't _make _it real. It was probably just my exhausted mind taking my own worries and feelings and projecting them to myself.

It was nothing, surely.

So, I turned over in my hammock and closed my eyes, sleep taking hold of me again soon afterward.

**A/N: So, as you can see, we've got a special appearance in this chapter: Tie, from OPfan37's A Hat and a Tie in Time. Hopefully I didn't make him very out-of-character.**

**But yeah, If you haven't read that story yet, then go do it. If you like this story, which you probably do if you've hung around this long, you'll **_**love **_**it. It's freaking amazing. Far, **_**far**_**, better than my own story.**

**Also, I plan on having other little segments dedicated to other AHiT fanfics. Just to honour them, so to speak. I won't say which, because that would be spoilers. :P**

**But anyway, hopefully you enjoyed.**


	52. Chapter 51: Time Patrol

Chapter 51: Time Patrol

**A/N: So, fun fact... y'all already know about how after the metro is gonna be the Artic Cruise. It's fairly obvious.**

**Well, funny enough, I, too, am going on an arctic cruise in real life! It's not gonna be until June, but I'm still busy preparing, I need to apply for a passport and what have you. I should have this story finished **_**long **_**before I leave but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway, for fun.**

**(Hopefully this arctic cruise doesn't end the same way as theirs will, though...)**

I woke up peacefully next morning. No other strange dreams or whatnot.

"Just a dream," I muttered quietly to myself.

I got up and meandered around the spaceship. The kid was still asleep, and I didn't wake her.

After awhile, I just sat in the main hall staring out into the cosmos.

Until I felt an all too familiar presence behind me.

"Have a nice talk last night, did you?" A certain someone asked.

I turned around to face the Traveller. I still had no idea why he liked sneaking up on me so much.

"Eh? What talk?" I asked, "I had a weird dream. That's it."

"'A weird dream'? You mean one where you found yourself talking to a young boy that reminded you of yourself?" The questioned.

I recoiled back in shock.

"How do you know that?!" I exclaimed.

"Last night, I felt a disturbance in the fabric of the multiverse. I tracked it down and found that the source of it was your own mind," He stated, "Your mind was projecting itself into a parallel universe. That's something I can't even do, I have to actually travel."

"Well I certainly didn't do it on purpose," I muttered, "But you're telling me... that was real?"

"As real as you or me," He answered.

I had no idea how to respond.

I was somehow... projected into a completely separate universe! But...

"How did this even happen?" I asked.

"I'm not quite sure," He muttered, "I know you were the source of this anomaly. Even if you refuse to believe it, you caused it."

"I was _asleep!_" I grumbled.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"You're not like the others, Mega," He said, "You're special. That's why I've watched over you for so long. Not everyone can detect it, but I see it clear as day. Something unlike anything else I've seen in this vast multiverse."

Why did he always beat around the bush like this?

I shook my head.

"Well, Badge Seller did say something about me having infinite potential. He said you saw it too. But I don't see what the big deal is," I grumbled, "I'm just a man. A poor excuse of a man."

He chuckled.

"You'll see," He said with a mischievous grin, "Oh, _you'll see_. All will be made clear. Perhaps even your fractured memory, too."

He then vanished without a trace.

I was beginning to think he enjoyed confusing me.

I heard footsteps and turned around. The kid was standing there, groggy and confused. I guessed that our little talk must've woken her up.

I decided not to tell her about what happened. Wasn't really important for her to know about.

Instead, I simply greeted with a "good morning."

"What was that all about?" She asked.

"Ah, nothing," I muttered, "Our certain friend came and talked about my memories."

Wasn't the full truth, but I wasn't lying, now was I?

"What did he say?" She questioned.

"He said that-"

Suddenly, an alarm boomed through the ship. Not the intruder alarm, but the...

"Time Rift alarm," I grumbled, "What fantastic timing."

The kid was already at the monitor. It showed two blue rifts and a purple rift in Alpine Skyline. One of them was on a cat house, another by the Twilight Bell, and the purple one was at the goat village.

"Strange how these things all pop up at once..." I muttered, "Well, I guess it means we can take care of them all at once, so whatever."

"Let's go," She said hurriedly, and we rushed to the Engine Room telescope and teleported down to the goat village. The purple rift was floating in the air not far away.

"You gonna go take care of that, kid?" I asked.

"I think it'd be cool to show you what these Time Rifts look like sometime," She explained, "But we can't risk anyone coming into the rifts after us. So you need to stay behind always."

"Alright. Good luck," I said.

She nodded and hopped into the rift. Time rewound briefly, and she was gone.

I just sat myself underneath the Time Rift and relaxed.

A few minutes later, a puzzled nomad approached me and the rift.

"Don't touch this thing," I warned, "It's very dangerous."

"Okay, but why are you sitting under it?" They asked, "If it's dangerous, shouldn't you be staying as far away from it as possible?"

"It's fine if you don't touch it," I answered, "Also, _somebody _needs to make sure that nobody messes with this thing."

"If you say so," They said.

They walked away, then stopped and turned around.

"Wait a minute, you're that guy who got poisoned trying to save us, right?" They questioned.

"Pretty sure," I joked.

"Okay, I have another question," They muttered, "How are you alive? After they disappeared, I did research on those plants. They're called the Death Blossom!"

I chuckled.

"Well, I'll just put it this way," I stated, "I have friends in high places. They helped me out."

"I see, they must've had some sort of antidote," They said, then walked away, muttering that they had to find the person or people that helped me.

I heard a strange noise, and looked up to see the rift disappear and the kid land right in front of me with a Time Piece in hand.

"Welcome back," I said.

"At least we've got that taken care of," She said, "I guess let's head to where those jerk cats live."

And so we did. It was a short trip, but when we got there...

There was nobody there. It was a ghost town. Even the nomad that typically warned visitors of the felines was gone.

We made it to the Time Rift without any issues whatsoever.

"Weird how we haven't been assaulted yet," I muttered, "Maybe they cleared out when they saw the Time Rift?"

"I don't see why they would," She disagreed, "I dunno. You can come with me this time, if you want."

"Sure," I said.

"Okay, but be sure not to look down," She warned between giggles.

She went in first, then I walked up to the floating, swirling blue ball.

"Well, here goes," I grumbled, then touched it.

Once again, time seemed to freeze, but instead of rewinding, a blinding flash of white light emitted from the rift.

When I could see again, I found myself... uh...

Uh...

"What in the name of peck is _**this?!**_"__I shouted.

It seemed like a giant, infinite ocean, with the surface of the water seemingly up in the sky with a sun piercing the waves. There were even bubbles and a whale floating around!

But why were there clocktowers everywhere? And why was I breathing air if this place was water?

At this point, my mind was having too much trouble comprehending the nonsense around me to even care about the seemingly infinite abyss below me.

I heard the kid laughing from a short distance away.

"I can see why you never wanted me tagging along with you into these things," I deadpanned.

"Too late now!" She exclaimed, "Come on!"

I sighed and followed her, noticing that everything seemed to be made of a weird mix of white stone(?) and blue crystal.

It was some fairly simple platforming until we got to a T-shaped platform with lots of pillars on it and a blue springboard hanging off the end of it. There was another platform far ahead, too far ahead to jump to. There was another springboard on that platform.

We walked toward the springboard, then out of nowhere a cat shoved the kid in the back, taking her hat and nearly knocking her off the platform.

I quickly smacked it in the back of the head with my baton, which stunned it. Another quick hit with the baton and they were off to dreamland.

"Well, I guess that explains where the cats went. There's probably a bunch more up ahead," I reasoned.

The kid took back her hat, and we both stood on the platform.

"You think this will send us both over to that platform?" I asked, "I'd like to know your opinion before risking falling into an infinite abyss."

"Oh, don't worry," She reassured, "Physics work kinda weirdly in these things. If you fall down, you'll be teleported back to solid ground a few seconds later."

"Oh," I muttered, "Well, okay then."

"_Buuut,_" She said, "You'd better not go diving off into the abyss just for fun, the sudden change in speed isn't a nice feeling. Trust me, I know."

"Right," I agreed, "Well, here goes."

She hopped into the air with her ice cap on and turned into a statue. When she landed on the board, it sent her flying to the other springboard, or so I assumed.

I was too busy flying out of control through the air to notice.

After a few seconds, I felt myself land in a very painful faceplant.

I grumbled and slowly looked up, seeing that I'd made it to the other side, but that I'd landed in the center of the platform, rather than on the springboard.

My face was still hot with pain from that sideshow.

"Never again," I grumbled as I got up.

The kid laughed, and we continued.

It was a very simple string of jumps to the end of the rift, but what made it not so simple was the fact that we were attacked on _literally every platform._ None of the cats ever got a good hit on either one of us but it was still a royal pain in the rear.

After clearing out all of the cats, we hopped onto a large gear. There were 3 rectangular boxes in front of us, and ahead I could see the Time Piece floating on an unreachable platform.

To the left, one of the boxes opened. Strangely, there was nothing inside.

Or was there?

I pre-emptively swatted backward with my baton and caught a cat trying to sneak up on me.

"Predictable," I spat, then hit them again before they could camouflage again.

The other two containers opened, but they seemed 'empty' as well.

I heard footsteps behind me and swung with my baton, but it met air.

Suddenly, I was tackled from behind.

"Predictable," The cat mocked. They had a strange accent I didn't recognize.

"Oh, so you can talk?" I asked.

"Who ever said we couldn't?" The cat countered. I felt fumbling in my pockets, and I could barely see a bag of pons being pulled out.

And then I heard a telltale whack, and I was no longer pinned down.

I quickly stood up.

"Thanks, kid," I thanked.

The cat got up and hissed viciously at the kid, then attempted to pounce on her.

It dodged the kid's first strike, but not the second one, and they were sent flying back into one of the boxes. I walked over to their unconscious body and took back what rightfully belonged to me.

Strangely enough, I noticed that this cat was dressed slightly different from the rest. They wore a black bandana covering their lower face.

"Shouldn't there be a third one?" I muttered.

"I dealt with it already," The kid explained.

"Really? I didn't hear anything," I responded, "I guess you're just that good, eh?"

I heard shifting, and looked forward to see that two walls impeding our progress earlier had lowered enough that we could climb onto them, and thus reach the Time Piece.

So... we did. We quickly made it to the Time Piece, which the kid grabbed.

The Time Rift began to fade as its source was removed.

"Now the fun part," She said with a grin.

She grabbed my hand and held the Time Piece high in the air, and it began to glow.

There was nothing but blinding white light for the next ten seconds...

And when it cleared, I landed back where we started with a bunch of unconscious cats next to us. I looked behind me, and the rift was gone.

"Huh," I muttered, "So that's what a Time Rift is like."

"Yup," The kid responded, "Now we've only got one left. And we can get there super easily!"

She held the Time Piece back into the air, and we were teleported back to the Engine Room.

"We can just go straight down to the Twilight Bell now, because we've been there once!" She said happily.

I nodded slowly, and we went down to Alpine Skyline again. This time, when peering through the telescope, I focused on the bell.

Sure enough, when I landed, it was right at the base of the bell.

Back in the eternally silent presence of this fascinating and strange monument.

The Time Rift was right behind us, sitting on a lone tree growing out of the rockface.

"Nobody's here, as per usual," The kid said quietly, "So, do you want to come with me again?"

"Well, it seems like it's mostly platforming. Like you said, I think I'd just weigh you down," I answered, "So I'll just wait here and make sure nobody comes here and has any bad ideas."

She nodded and entered the rift, vanishing again.

And there I sat. Alone. The only sound was the gentle blow of the breeze.

Apart from the slight eeriness, it was kind of relaxing.

I sat down and took a deep breath, then stared at the monumental Twilight Bell.

It truly was something else. It really set the feel for an ancient anchor to a spiritual realm. Yep, it sure set the atmosphere for that.

"Fancy meeting you here again," A certain mysterious voice greeted from behind.

I didn't need to look over to see who it was.

"Hello, Badge Seller. The kid is off taking care of something," I muttered.

"Yes, the Time Rift over there. I know," He stated.

At this point, it wasn't even surprising that he knew that.

"How has the badge I gave you worked so far?" He asked.

"I've only used it once, but it worked perfectly fine," I answered, "I still wanna try out that Shadow Badge sometime, but I haven't had the chance yet. I was thinking I'd maybe try to find you in Subcon Forest today, but here we are."

He chuckled.

"I could assist you with the badge right now, if you wish," He suggested.

"Out in the sun? It won't work," I countered.

He chuckled again.

"Have you forgotten where we are?" He questioned.

"Uh... the Twilight Bell," I muttered.

"And have you forgotten where you go when you ring it?" He continued.

I could only say "oh."

"Would it work in there?" I asked.

"Better than anywhere else. I believe you would be able to accomplish some amazing feats with that badge in the Realm of Ancients," He explained.

"And what if the kid gets back before we're done?" I inquired, "She'd have no idea where I went and she'd probably panic."

He put his free hand to his chin.

"I suppose you wouldn't want that, now would you?" He muttered, "Very well. In that case, I will return to Subcon Forest and await your arrival once again. Don't keep me waiting long."

"I won't," I responded, but he'd already vanished.

... And the kid returned right after.

"What _stellar _timing!" I exclaimed sarcastically.

"... What?" She asked.

"Badge Seller _just left. _He was gonna help me with the stupid badge I bought from him but I didn't want to go with him, because you were busy with the rift," I explained, "And he left right before you came back."

She laughed.

I sighed.

"Well, I guess that's just life," I dismissed, "Let's go back to the ship."

We did so, and the kid put the Time Pieces back into the vault.

I looked at the giant monitor. 35/56. That was like... what, barely over 60% done?

Well, if you counted the five we collected in the metro but had taken from us, that'd be 40. Which is almost three quarters.

I scratched my head. It seemed like we'd be done soon.

Very soon.

... The thought made me strangely nervous.

What would we do afterward? Head to the kid's homeworld?

Then what? Go off on another adventure? Stay?

Bah, we probably wouldn't even make it that far! They probably wouldn't even accept me, they'd probably lock me away or worse! And then how would they react knowing the kid lost the Time Pieces in the first place?

What would they do to _her?_

I shook my head to clear these horrible thoughts away.

We'd cross that bridge when we came to it.

But right now, I had a Badge Seller waiting for me in Subcon Forest.

It was time to finally put this damn Shadow Badge to use.

**A/N: Wow, I was not expecting this chapter to be so big. But I wanted to deal with all three rifts at once, as per usual, so that's what I did.**

**Next chapter: He **_**FINALLY **_**gets to use the badge that he spent every last pon on! I dunno why it took me **_**SO PECKING LONG **_**to get around to it, but it's finally happening.**

**Oh, and, you can expect it to be **_**far **_**more interesting than some normal, dinky badge. It's an **_**ultra badge, **_**after all!**

**But now, review time:**

**OPFan37: It was super fun to do! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I'm glad that I got Tie's character down correctly. I also edited it so that Tie doesn't say 'dude,' hehe. Thank you!**


	53. Chapter 52: Dark Abyss

Chapter 52: Dark Abyss

_Do you ever wonder about the darkness? Why the fear of it is so common?_

_If so, you might ask yourself: who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark, or the man afraid of the light?_

_But the answer to this riddle is simple. How?_

_Well..._

_Sometimes you stare into the void..._

_And the void stares back._

I got up and took a deep breath, then looked at the kid.

"Well, I guess I should head down to Subcon Forest," I muttered.

Hmm... she was probably gonna ask to come with me, wasn't she? She was always full of curiosity and would probably wanna see firsthand what the badge can do.

"I wanna come too!" She exclaimed, "I wanna see you use that badge! It cost so much, I can't wait to see what it does!"

I chuckled.

"What?" She asked.

"I knew you were gonna say that," I answered.

She smirked and shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, let's get going. We don't wanna keep him waiting, now do we?" I suggested.

She nodded. We then entered her bedroom and teleported down to Subcon Forest.

I looked around.

"Exactly as I predicted."

I turned around, and the Badge Seller was standing right there.

"What did you predict?" I asked.

"You both got here exactly when I thought you would, and I expected you both to come," He explained, then smirked. "You both always stick together. You're inseparable," He said.

I shrugged. "I guess so."

He then cleared his throat. "Well, that's enough chatting. We have matters to attend to," He ordered, "Equip the badge."

I quickly unequipped my Hover Badge, as I knew I wasn't going to need it here of all places, and then reached for the Shadow Badge.

Before I put it on though, I examined it closely.

It really was something else. It made me feel... kinda like how I felt near the Twilight Bell. Except it felt more... taboo. Forbidden.

Like it was something not of this world, not intended for mere mortals.

But unlike the Twilight Bell, it seemed like it was... ah... how do I put this...?

It seemed like it... well, belonged to me. Like it was made specifically for me. Also, it almost seemed like it was beckoning me; a silent voice told me to put it on.

So, strangely, it felt like it was fit specifically for me, yet also felt like I was nowhere near fit for it.

"Quite something, isn't it?" The Badge Seller asked, "You feel like you shouldn't have it, like it's intended for something greater than you, don't you?"

I turned to him in surprise.

Well... I shouldn't've been surprised. He'd been holding onto that badge for who knows how long, he'd probably know everything about it.

"Well... yeah, but it also feels like... it belongs to me," I muttered uncomfortably.

He grinned from ear to ear.

"That is an _excellent _sign," He stated very contently, "Now equip it."

I sighed and put it on, bracing myself for anything...

...

Nothing happened.

"Oh," I said flatly.

"Boring!" The kid shouted after blowing a raspberry.

The Badge Seller chuckled and shook his head.

"Ah, my friends, this is only the beginning. Merely putting on a badge has no effect, it is waiting for it to be used," He explained, "And we just so happen to be in the perfect place at the perfect time to use it."

"So _that's_ why we're here," I realized.

"But of course," The Badge Seller responded, "Finding shadows shouldn't be much of a problem in the Forest of Shadows, hmm? Follow me."

We followed him down the trail, then into the woods. He led us through the dark trees for what seemed like forever until we reached an old ruin. For some odd reason, the sun refused to shine here, and there were no mushrooms around to create any sort of interference with the light.

It was all shade.

"Well, I'd say you picked a great spot for this," I said, "But why exactly isn't the sun shining here? It's unnatural"

He shook his head.

"A very important event happened here. A battle between two dark entities, a shadow and a puppeteer, ending with the puppeteer's defeat. For some unknown reason, after the battle, it left this part of the forest permanently dark," He explained.

"But... a shadow? That sounds like Sna-" The kid muttered, then shouted.

Suddenly, I was grabbed by the leg and held a few feet in the air upside down. I could see the kid being held upside down as well, held in the air across from me.

"**Did somebody call?!**"

I let out an irritated groan.

"For God's sake, Snatcher!" I yelled, "A simple 'hello' would've worked!"

He laughed and dropped us to the ground, annoying me even more.

"**Oh please, do you really expect **_**ME **_**to show myself in such a simple, boring way?**" He mocked.

"Well, yeah," I responded as I got up.

He chuckled.

"**Then clearly you haven't learned a single thing about me while you were here,**" He stated.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

"**Anyway, what are you doing out here? Neither of you have ventured **_**this **_**deep into the forest. Do you know what **_**horrific **_**monsters live out here?**" He said, leaning over the kid in an intimidating way as he said the last part.

She looked around suddenly and rapidly shook her head no.

I smirked and raised an eyebrow. I knew what would irritate him.

"Is that _concern _I hear?" I taunted.

He snorted and turned to me.

"_**HA! **_**You wish! I just don't like seeing you two brats snooping around where you **_**DON'T BELONG!**_" He grumbled.

I nodded slowly.

"Oh, I'm sure you were," I shot back as sarcastically as possible.

He shook his head.

"**Anyway, you didn't answer my question! Why are you here?**" He asked, then looked down at Badge Seller suspiciously, "**And what do **_**you **_**have to do with it?**"

Badge Seller was unfazed.

"I am simply helping my best customer learn how to use a very special badge I sold him a while ago," He explained.

"**And what does that have to do with **_**my forest?**_" He asked.

"Well, uh, it needs darkness to work properly," I muttered, "So what better place to do it than here?"

That seemed to interest him.

"**Hmm... A badge that uses darkness? I've got to see this. I'm going to be watching you, and you'd better not mess up, or you **_**bet**_** I'll never let you live it down!**" He stated, then disappeared and reappeared a reasonable distance away.

"Gee, thanks," I grumbled.

I then took off the Shadow Badge and looked at it. Its black outline was somehow impossibly darker, it looked like a ring of void around the center of the badge. Even more, it was emanating a small, dark aura.

I put my finger on the dark outline, and... it sent chills all throughout my arm and into my back. It was foreboding, sure, but it was _awesome! _It was seriously unlike anything else I'd ever seen. I quickly popped it back on.

"Well, uh, now that all that's over with, how do I use this thing?" I asked.

"Lie down on the ground," Badge Seller ordered. I did so.

"Remember that this will only work in darkness. If you try it and even the tiniest fraction of your body is in light, it will not work. If anything, it might cause some... unpleasant side effects," He warned.

"Noted. So what do I do now?" I asked.

"Close your eyes," He ordered.

Once again, I did so... yet nothing happened.

"What now?" I questioned

"Hmm..." He said, "This next part might be... difficult for me to explain and for you to understand."

"Okay then," I muttered.

"Now, you may think that darkness is nonexistant. Just the lack of light," Badge Seller explained, "That may be true in some worlds, but not here. Darkness is its own energy. Its own existence. Can you sense it? Can you _feel _the darkness around you?"

...

I didn't notice anything before, but now that he mentioned it...

I could feel it. Like I had a sixth sense. I could feel _something _in the ground.

I didn't know how better to describe it. It felt like... a polar opposite of light.

And now that I felt it, I knew I'd be able to sense it without the badge. It was that noticeable. But the badge amplified it.

"Yeah... I can," I said, "It's crystal clear."

"Good," He said, "That means the badge is working with you. Now the next step will also be tricky. You must try to... invite the darkness. Take that feeling and let it consume your feelings and your focus."

"Okay?" I said.

"I... may need to find another way to explain this," He muttered uncomfortably.

"No, no, I _think _I understand," I said.

I took a deep breath.

"Here goes."

I did as he told. I shut out all other feelings, all other thoughts, all that was left was the cold, dark abyss.

I heard the kid gasp, but it was quickly muffled out.

... Did it work?

I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't.

In fact, I couldn't move at all.

It must've worked.

Strangely enough, even though my eyes were closed, I could... see anyway? No, no, it wasn't real sight, yet I was able to... detect everything in the immediate area anyway. I'd try to explain it further, but it was just too much for my poor brain to comprehend.

There were no sounds, no feelings except for the shadow itself, nothing. Just me, the darkness, and my own mind. It actually felt... nice. It felt like a place I could come to and just... be alone.

But then, I heard something.

It was a very quiet sound, it would've gone unnoticed if there wasn't no other sounds at all.

It almost sounded like a whisper.

Intrigued, I listened as closely as I could.

After about ten seconds, I heard something again. This time, it was a bit louder and more clear.

No, that was definitely a voice.

I waited again.

Something spoke again.

This time, I could hear it.

"_Empty._"

Uh... 'empty'? What's empty?

"_You._"

Me? Uh... but empty how? And how could it read my thoughts?

"_We are one. We are empty. We are hollow. Yet we are also full._"

Great, but what did that all mean?

"_We are shadow. And now, you are us, and __we are you._"

Okay, that was _really creepy. _

That was enough darkness for me.

I willed myself to leave this place, and I felt myself be pushed out.

I shot up, opened my eyes, and gasped.

Badge Seller chuckled.

"Just as planned," He said.

"Now I truly have seen everything," I grumbled.

The kid ran up to me excitedly, clapping rapidly.

"That was _awesome!_" She shouted, "You just... turned dark and disappeared! It looked so cool!"

"Yeah... yeah..." I muttered.

Snatcher approached.

"**I'll be honest... I'm a shadow, and you've impressed me with what you did, kid,**" He said.

"Thanks..." I said.

I took off the Shadow Badge.

That feeling of 'you shouldn't be holding this, this is far greater than you' was gone.

I merely felt that feeling that beckoned me, told me it was meant for me and me alone.

And I could see a small, half-blue half-red lightning bolt now on the back of the badge. A symbol that I knew was meant for me.

Furthermore, a strange feeling emanated through my right hand, which I was holding the badge in. It felt especially strange on the back of my hand.

I turned my hand over and looked, and there was a mark of a small, black cloak, right in the center of the back of my hand.

I looked down at the lightning bolt on the back of the badge.

I then looked at the new mark on my hand. It made sense now.

"So that's what you meant when you said 'you are us, and we are you'," I muttered to the badge.

Badge Seller clapped.

"The badge has accepted you as its one, true owner," He said, "Congratulations."

I grinned and put the Shadow Badge back on.

... And we just sat there.

"So, what now?" The kid asked.

"Well," Badge Seller muttered, then turned to me, "You heard a voice in the shadow realm, yes?"

"I did," I said.

"Don't be surprised if it talks to you outside of the shade as long as you have it equipped," He warned, "And if anything strange _at all _occurs with that badge, you must let me know _immediately. _It has a mind of its own, which means it can do things on its own."

"But hopefully it won't," I stated, "It seems to really like me."

"Exactly," He agreed, "Also, now that the badge has accepted you, I reckon you'll slowly unlock new abilities when the time comes. Any other questions?"

"Not at all," I muttered.

"Very well. Class is dismissed."

**A/N: Eeee, spooky! The Shadow Badge is no joke! And as you can tell, it's gonna play a **_**far **_**larger role than just a simple item. **_**DEFINITELY.**_

**... For better or for worse.**

**Now, review time:**

**Fighter33000: Thank you very much! I hope I didn't disappoint on the Shadow Badge, haha. And I'll be sure to enjoy the cruise when it happens.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**


	54. Chapter 53: Feeling Blue

Chapter 53: Feeling Blue

**A/N: Whoop, sorry for the somewhat later upload. I was busy with a few things. Next chapter should come out at a usual time.**

We returned to the ship shortly after, and I sat in my hammock and proceeded to stare at the new mark on my hand.

I was expecting something special from this badge, but not for it to freaking _brand _me. It was actually pretty cool.

Contrary to what Badge Seller said might happen, I didn't hear any more voices.

At the end of the day, I was a tad bit worried that the new perception might cause me to lose sleep, but thankfully it didn't.

I woke up the following day feeling ready to go back to work.

Hopefully we could clear out the rest of the Metro and get back our Time Pieces by the end of the day.

So, I got up and got ready, and the kid woke up soon after and got ready herself.

And then we went back down to the lab and I stood on the manhole cover.

"So, wanna see something cool?" I asked.

"Okay?" She said curiously.

"Hopefully I don't break something..." I muttered, then raised my baton up into the air.

The badge activated and slammed down on the edge of the manhole cover, launching it up into the air and allowing me to fall through into the weird storage room.

A couple seconds later, the kid fell down, and she seemed very surprised, or impressed, or both.

"You can thank Badge Seller for that little trick," I said.

"Thought so," She muttered.

We walked over to the telescope, which for some reason had a mound of cash beneath it.

"Uh," I said, "Was this here before?"

"I thought it'd be fun to keep all of this 'money' stuff in one spot," She said, "We can make money angels!"

Money angels?

That earned a laugh out of me.

"Sounds awesome," I replied, "I don't remember Empress giving us that much money though."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"That's the amount I found," She stated.

"Huh, weird. I'm not complaining, though," I thought aloud, "Not like I'm complaining, though... but we can talk about this once we're done."

The kid nodded and hopped up to the telescope. We both teleported down to the Metro, and this time we took the easy way and hopped on a train (not literally) to get to the main station.

When we got there, we quickly made our way to the Empress' jewelry store and entered. She was waiting for us and grinned her menacing, sociopathic grin.

I walked up to the counter.

"You're back. And slightly sooner than expected," She said.

"Well, we always like to get an early start to the day," I replied.

"I can see that. I believe that is one more thing we can agree on," She muttered, "But, talking doesn't get a job done, so get back to work."

I nodded, turned around, motioned for the kid to follow, and we left.

"So, if I remember correctly, we need to get to the Bluefin Tunnel," I muttered, looking around for anything blue.

"Mhm," The kid said, "I think I saw something blue when we first came here. Come on!"

She took off, and I ran after her. We ran past a food vendor and down into a tunnel with two conveyor belts or something on the floor.

There was a green holographic wall at the end, but we had the metro passes, so we phased right through with ease.

I stopped and looked around.

"Yep... this is the place," I said, "Blue was always my favourite colour... you gonna check for Time Pieces?"

"Mhm," She muttered as she closed her eyes, "Hmm... where are you hiding?"

She opened her eyes.

"Huh," She said, "I didn't find a single Time Piece, but I found a bunch of weaker signals concentrated in one area. I don't know what that means, but the only thing that can imitate a Time Piece's signal is a Time Piece or- oh."

"What?" I asked.

"The Time Piece is broken," She grumbled.

My heart jumped into my throat.

"It's _what?!_" I shouted.

"Not _that _way. Sometimes, if a Time Piece is broken in a really weird way, it won't rewind time because its energy was released slowly," She explained, "Which means we have to go find the pieces and repair it."

"Fun," I said, "But hey, I guess this means we get to stick together for once."

She grinned from ear to ear.

"Yay!" She beamed, "Let's go!"

She hopped over some railing and fell down deeper into the tunnel.

All I did was shake my head and follow her.

I saw that she had stopped and that she was fighting some... blue cats? They looked like the cats in Alpine Skyline but were wearing blue clothing and were being aggressive instead of stealthy.

I jumped down and swung my baton downward, colliding with the top of a cat's head forcefully and knocking it out instantly.

"Well, hope that didn't cause a skull fracture," I muttered.

The kid had taken care of the other one and I turned around.

There was a small section of train track in front of me, and I could see that the path ahead was under it. So, I waited for a train to pass and jumped down through the holographic track and landed further down.

"Good thing we can't stand on those," I chuckled.

Some more cats were waiting, but it didn't take long for us to deal with them.

We walked through a smaller tunnel and stopped at another train track.

The tunnel that the train track ran across was only big enough for a train to fit in, and the only way through was to run across the track and hide in little alcoves to let trains pass by.

Good lord.

"Mark my words, I'm going to have heart problems when I'm older thanks to this adventure," I grumbled.

A train passed by.

"Here we go," I muttered, then made a mad dash for the first alcove. Another train passed by, and I ran to the next one.

The kid beat me to it thanks to her fancy Time Stop hat.

When the next train passed, I ran and dove out of the tunnel, _barely _making it.

There were a couple weird rats waiting for us, but it only took a single baton or umbrella whack to make them not a problem.

We advanced forward to a little area with a hole in the ceiling. I almost jumped up but stopped when a train passed right over us.

"I'd like to have words with whoever designed this stupid place," I said, then hopped up after a train passed.

I jumped up to a wall and quickly pulled myself up, then waited for the kid, and we both continued forward, hopping up to another platform, running across a train track quickly, and then stopping.

I saw a train track ahead with an oddly placed puddle smack dab in the center of it, and there was another cat-rumbi off to the right.

I looked up and to the left, and sure enough that's where we needed to go. But the kid was ten steps ahead and was already leading the rumbi over to the where we needed to go.

So, off we went again, running into a vent, across a train track, jumping up to a ledge, and stopping once again at a set of two train tracks.

There were trains coming toward us in a strange alternating pattern, and I didn't need to look to know what we needed to do.

I sighed.

"I'm not even gonna say anythings, words are useless at this point," I grumbled, "Well, it's now or never, I guess."

I told my heart to be still and we ran across. It wasn't actually difficult, but that didn't make me want to panic any less.

We got to the other side, ran through a vent... or rather, I did, the kid slid down it like, well, a slide, hopped across a few trains, and eventually stopped at another ticket vendor. Unsurprisingly, there was, like, nobody here.

I quickly bought two metro tickets and handed one to the kid, then we hopped on top of the train behind us, then used it as a platform to jump across onto another ledge, evading a trillionth train as we did so.

I felt a weak energy coming from something on the floor, like a Time Piece, but, well, way weaker.

I looked down and there was a small shard of white glass inside of the busted remains of a Time Piece.

"Well, kid, you were right," I said, "But, uh, handling broken glass without thick gloves seems very unsafe. Especially considering it's been on the dirty floor for who knows how long."

She giggled.

"Time Pieces aren't made with glass!" She exclaimed, "Glass is way too weak, it wouldn't be able to keep in all of that energy!"

"Then what's this stuff?" I asked.

"A weird crystal or something that I don't know much about," She explained, "But it's not sharp, even when broken."

"I'll be the judge of that," I grumbled, picking up the shard and carefully rubbing my thumb across it. Sure enough, it didn't cut me. It _did _scratch me a bit, but that's way better than what glass would've done.

"Told you," She said, picking up the remains of the Time Piece and stashing them away.

"Is there any sand that we need to collect?" I questioned, "I mean, Time Pieces _are_ magic hourglasses."

She gave me a disapproving glare.

"It's science," She said, "Magic is just science that you can't comprehend."

"What about the badges? Your hats?" I countered.

She didn't respond for awhile.

"Okay, maybe there _is _magic," She admitted, "But Time Pieces aren't magic. And also, no, there is no sand. It gets absorbed into the remains of the Time Piece."

"Alright," I said, "How do you know all this stuff, though?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"I was taught this stuff," She muttered dismissively. She seemed a bit uncomfortable.

"Okay then," I said, "Anyway, we should probably fix this Time Piece."

She nodded and ran off.

All of the shards were easy to get, they were scattered haphazardly throughout the small area we were in, and in the end I gave my shards to the kid, who took out all of the shards and the broken Time Piece and brought them closer to eachother.

They flew out of her hands and into the air, getting closer and closer, as a bunch of bright lights flashed around and eventually got sealed inside the Time Piece as it repaired itself. Back to normal, it flew into the kid's hands.

I waited for the annoying duo to come and take the Time Piece from us, but they never showed up. It was probably too dangerous here for even them.

But how would we get out of here easily? I certainly didn't want to go all the way back.

Fortunately, we found an elevator that took us all the way back to the main station.

We walked over to the Empress jewelry store, and I turned around to face the kid.

"So," I whispered, "Those two bozos didn't take the Time Piece from us. But Empress will still know that we found one. So we should give it to her, it'll probably please her."

She nodded.

"We're gonna get them all back somehow anyway," She stated.

"Exactly," I agreed, "Now let's not keep her waiting."


	55. Chapter 54: End of the Line

Chapter 54: End of the Line

We entered the store, and the Empress awaited us with a skeptical look as we made our way to the counter where she stood.

"You're back. And this time, I haven't been given a Time Piece," She hissed.

"Yes, your goons never showed up to take the Time Piece," I stated, then plopped the Time Piece on the counter. "So there you go. Express delivery."

A sly grin crept onto her face and she took the Time Piece.

"Well, well, well," She said, "I must say I'm impressed with your loyalty. I can't even _begin _to say how often an employee tried to pull a trick on me."

I scratched my head uncomfortably.

"And we saw firsthand how much you hate betrayal," I muttered.

"Indeed," She agreed, tossing me another stack of cash, "Are you enjoying your stay in my metro? There's people from all over here. It's the _perfect _place for a little lying, a little cheating, a little _stealing._"

"It is quite a fascinating place, and beautiful too. Although not exactly the safest place I've ever been," I muttered.

The Empress chuckled.

"There's a place for you here, both of you, once this is over. You've proved to me your usefulness and your loyalty. I'd be willing to let you in on my biggest operations, and there's one coming up soon that I will have to leave to attend to," She said, "However, there's still one station left for you to search before I let you in on the action."

"The pink station?" I guessed.

"Yes, the Pink Paw Station. Now that you've explored the other stations, you should have all the metro passes you need to get there, well, at least the long way. Once you've finished, come back here and wait for my return. Then we can talk about your place here."

"Alright, sounds like a plan," I said, then turned around and exited the story, kid following behind.

We quickly found the way into the pink station and entered, but I was stopped by the kid clearing her throat in an annoyed matter.

"Something wrong?" I asked her.

"I feel like you're forgetting why we're here," She whispered, "We're here for the time pieces, not a job."

I shook my head.

"I get that. The Time Pieces are the priority. But I'm trying to say what pleases her. The more she trusts us, the better our chances of getting the Time Pieces back from her. Who knows? Maybe she'll reward us with Time Pieces for doing jobs for her," I suggested quietly.

"That'll take too long," She muttered.

"Ok, then what should we do?" I asked.

"I know what we should do," She said smugly.

"Well, I'm all ears, kid," I stated.

"I won't tell you," She taunted.

"Why?" I questioned.

"You won't like it," She said.

"Why don't you tell me and I'll decide that for myself?" I grumbled.

"Nope," She said, "I made up my mind, and you said it yourself, I'm your captain, you gotta follow my orders!"

I stared at her blankly.

"You'd better not get us killed, kid," I deadpanned.

"Don't worry," She reassured, "I have it _aaaaallll _planned out."

I sighed.

"Well, I guess I'll take your word for it," I muttered.

We continued down a vent and stopped at set of two train tracks.

Remember back in the Bluefin Tunnel where we had to weave between two sets of trains to get to the other side? Well, that' exactly what this was except the trains were shorter and they were coming at us faster.

But we made it to the other side without issue. Neither of us had gotten hit by a train yet, that's a record we wanted to upkeep.

When we made it to the other side, we hopped up a vending machine to get up to a ledge, then we saw, you guessed it, more train tracks waiting for us. We waited for a train to come then climbed on top of one...

Then quickly had to jump over to another train to avoid being hit by a giant sign, and then hop over a couple smaller signs.

Then we had to jump back to the first train, hop over another sign, then quickly dive into another vent or else we'd faceplant into a giant sign... which was pointing toward the vent.

Very strange.

"I'm beginning to think this place was _intended _to be this dangerous," I grumbled, "Well, at least we're almost done here."

We hopped onto a cat rumbi and emerged in the actual station. To the back, I saw some pink holographic walls that seemed to connect the station to the main station.

"So that's the short way," I muttered, "Well, you know what to do."

I waited as the kid scanned for Time Pieces with her hat, and I saw a frown emerge on her face.

"What?" I asked.

"I was hoping we'd get to stick together again, but no," She whined, "There's one in a manhole and one at the end of the station, soooo..."

"Oh well, we'll have all the time in the world to explore together later," I muttered, then walked over to a food cart and hopped on top of it. "We'll meet back here, right?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Alright. Well, good luck," I wished. She nodded again.

With that out of the way, I hopped onto a train passing behind the food cart, then another one passing right overhead of that train.

I then hopped off of the train onto a ledge, and I saw a cat rumbi stuck to the wall, although there were some trains I had to dive between to get to it.

I was bounced up to another ledge, this one had an unused train track on it weirdly enough, and I saw a small purple dimensional cube and a larger green one at the edge of the ledge.

"Real good thing I have that charm," I muttered to myself, "Although I wonder how these kinda things get here."

I activated the charm and hopped onto the green cube, then jumped off and swung toward a hookshot clamp suspended in the air... well, actually, all of these 'clamps' were just floating signs telling train arrival and departure times with hooks on the bottoms of them, but oh well... wait, where was I?

Oh right... I waited for a train to pass then swung off, dove past another train, swung across another sign, and landed on a larger section of the station.

Ahead, there were some purple bars blocking the path, but that didn't stop me with my charm.

I activated the charm again and jumped onto the back wall, landing on a cat rumbi which bounced me up higher.

I smirked.

Honestly, now that I wasn't _so _afraid of heights, exploring these places was honestly a blast. I could do it all day.

It was just so satisfying!

I jumped ahead and swung across two more floating signs, activated my charm to land on a green dimensional 'metal' plate, then hopped onto an actual metal plate, then climbed up onto a wall.

I heard whirring, and I looked to see a cat rumbi going back and forth on the back wall. Still didn't know how they were doing that, but it didn't matter. Nothing made sense in this strange world.

I waited for it to come close then bounced off of it. I landed on a ventilation... thingimajig, you know, the units that actually blow all the air through the ventilation systems, then jumped off and bounced off a couple more cat rumbis.

I landed and saw a ticket vendor right in front of me.

With a smirk, I bought two more metro passes. Now we'd be able to get to this station easily, too.

I saw yet ANOTHER cat rumbi on the back wall and bounced off of it, landing up on a higher ledge.

I saw the Time Piece dead ahead, but... there were three train tracks blocking the way, many trains coming through from each one.

"Just can't make things easy, can you?" I grumbled to no one in particular.

Fortunately, I saw a pattern and followed it. I **just barely** avoided getting clipped by a train as I swung off of one final sign and landed on the platform where the Time Piece laid.

I picked it up with a grin.

"Safe and sound."

I pocketed it, then looked down.

The station seemed like it was basically vertical, so I reckoned that I could jump down and make it all the way back to the start.

I quickly made sure I had my hover badge on. Good thing I checked, cause I didn't. I'd forgotten that I'd taken it off to equip the Shadow Badge. So, I unequipped the Megaton badge to put the hover badge on, then dove all the way down to the bottom with a rebel yell towards common sense.

Sure enough, I landed right back where I started as a cushion of air blanketed the fall.

I looked around for the kid. Sure enough, I saw her pop out of the manhole with a Time Piece in hand.

"Perfect timing!" I shouted as the kid meandered over.

"Perfect timing is right," I heard a familiar, annoying voice chuckle, "You know the deal, hand them over!"

"So you're back? I was wondering why you never showed up in the tunnels," I wondered.

"None of your business!" The cat hissed.

"If you say so," I muttered, handing over the Time Piece as the kid did the same.

They walked away, leaving us annoyed.

"Well, that's that," I said, "Let's go back to the Empress' shop, I guess. I got you a Metro Pass, by the way."

I gave the pass to her, and we took the _easy _exit to the main station.

We made it to the store, and the Empress was standing there.

I walked up to the counter.

"Something happen to your operation?" I asked, "Cause I thought you said you were leaving."

"Well, you two just so happened to be far quicker than I was expecting. Eight Time Pieces, all of them mine. I promised I'd make you rich, and I wouldn't lie to my own," She said, tossing me a final stack of cash, "However... I _do _have to leave right away. I will be back in a few hours. Don't go far."

I nodded, and she walked out from behind the counter, stepped outside, gathered a few of her goons, then walked out of sight.

"Psst," The kid whispered, "She left her vault open. Now's the perfect time to put my plan into action."

"Now's the perfect time to tell me what your plan is," I grumbled, "I really don't like the idea of stealing from her, kid. She isn't stupid. She'll find out."

"And we'll be long gone by the time she does," She said, "This is the perfect chance! I'm going."

She hopped over the counter and ran into the vault.

Oh nonononono...

"Kid!" I hissed, vaulting over the counter and running inside. "This is not going to end well!"

"Too late now," She said.

I fumed.

"Fine. Just hurry it up," I grumbled.

She quickly gathered the eight Time Pieces, and I turned around to leave, only to find the door closed.

"Did you close the door?" She asked.

"Maybe?" I said.

I opened the door and froze in place.

She was standing _**RIGHT THERE!**_

And if looks could kill... we'd both be _**BEYOND **_**dead.**

I would've said something... but I couldn't find anything to say.

She grinned maliciously as she pressed a button, which caused a mic to raise from the counter.

She tapped the mic, causing a noise to boom over the entire metro it seemed!

"Catch her. Make it quick," She ordered over the mic, "Reward... is _one million!_"

Her?! Why not me?!

I turned around to the kid.

"We gotta get outta here!" I yelled, and she hopped over the counter and ran out the store as I vaulted over it and ran as well.

I felt a hot, searing pain shoot through my leg.

"Agh!" I shouted, collapsing to the floor. I felt the back of my leg, only to find a dagger sticking out of it!

"_**YOU'RE **_not going _**ANYWHERE!**_" She yelled, stepping on my back.

Oh, so that's why I wasn't given a bounty! She didn't expect me to make it out of the store!

I looked at the kid, who was staring in shock.

"Why are you standing there?!" I screamed, "_**RUN!**_"

"B-but..."

"Don't worry about me! If you don't go now, you'll never get out alive!" I roared, "_**GO!**_"

"You heard him, child," The Empress mocked, "Run, as fast as you can. You'll both be reunited soon anyway!"

She looked back and forth for a few seconds, then ran.

The Empress cackled.

When it died down, I felt my rage build.

"What the hell do you want with me?" I hissed.

"Well..." She asked, "We have _**MUCH **_discussing to do."

**A/N: Well. Quite a situation our heroes have gotten themselves into. A gigantic bounty on our favourite kid's head, and our protagonist has fallen into the clutches of the cruel, merciless Empress.**

**What will she do with him?**

**Well, I guess you'll just have to wait to find out! Ahahahaha...**

**(Also, kinda funny how they both gained Empress' trust and blew it in the same chapter, lol)**

**Now for a... belated response to a review...**

**purple1984: Thank you very much! It means the world to me to hear things like that, honestly. So, again, thank you!**

**Next chapter... well... it's gonna be **_**fun**_**, that's for pecking sure.**


	56. Chapter 55: Warrior

Chapter 55: Warrior

She summoned a few of her minions (kind of odd that they weren't going after the kid given her gigantic bounty, but I wasn't complaining), and one of them blindfolded me.

I then felt myself being picked up and carried for a short amount of time, maybe like 2 minutes.

Then when we came to a stop, I felt myself being tied to something, and the blindfold was taken off. It seemed like I was in some control or security room deep in the Metro, and I could see camera footage of all over the Metro. Meanwhile, my arms and legs were tied to the corners of what seemed like an upturned metal bedpost.

But on the cameras... it didn't look good.

I could see the kid running for her life with swarms of cats on her tail, going wherever to try and escape.

"Good," The Empress said, "Now leave us. We have business to discuss."

Her goons nodded and ran out, muttering how they'd be the ones to collect that bounty.

The Empress sat and watched the monitors, then picked up a microphone.

"One million dollars to the cat that brings me our little thief, _dead or alive,_" She stated, "Run if you want, child. You won't get far."

I rolled my eyes.

"Am I just going to sit here all day?" I grumbled.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten about _you,_" She hissed, standing up and walking over to me.

"Then what do you want with me anyway?" I asked.

"Well, you were the one doing all the talking, so interrogating you seemed like the better choice," She said, "Now spit it out. Why do you need the Time Pieces anyway?"

I snorted.

"Like I'm going to tell you," I spat.

She held her claws up to my neck.

"Oh, you will," She said threateningly.

I smirked.

"No, I don't think I will," I taunted.

She stepped back with a look of irritation and surprise on her face.

"What?" I asked, "Surprised that I'm not cowering in fear?"

She didn't reply.

"Well, I'll tell you why," I muttered, "You separated me from the _one thing in existence _I care about. And odds are, I'll never see her again. Now, naturally, that makes me very, _**VERY**_ angry. And I don't feel fear when I'm angry."

She snickered, and I frowned.

"Well, you clearly don't know _me,_" She growled, then suddenly grabbed my jaw and tilted it upward.

I could feel her claws pressing tight against my neck.

"You will tell me _**EVERY SINGLE THING**_you know. Both about the child and the Time Pieces. Or I will kill you the slowest way I know how!" She shouted.

I could feel the rage boiling in my veins. Who the _**HELL **_does she think she is?!

"**Then do it and put me out of my misery!**" I yelled.

I felt her freeze, then slowly she backed away.

"That's what I thought," I grumbled.

She grinned evilly.

"Don't get your hopes up," She said, "I have plans for you. And you will _**wish **_I killed you."

"Sure, sure," I retorted.

She got up and walked to the entrance.

"Now... I need to pay your little friend a visit," She taunted, "Watch on the cameras. You'll _love _the surprise I have planned for her."

She walked through the door.

"She's far too smart and fast for you!" I yelled as she closed the door.

I looked around the room.

There was nobody here. Just me and the cameras.

I wondered if I could escape...

I tried my best to wriggle free from the ropes pinning me down, but it didn't work. Unless I completely phased through them...?

I looked around my makeshift prison to see if there was a shadow I could blend into.

Turned out the entire room was cascaded in shadow.

"Oh, you thought you had me," I muttered, "But little did you know, I am one with the shadows."

I closed my eyes and entered the darkness. I didn't stay long, but when I popped out of the darkness, I kicked away the bedpost and stood atop it.

Now I needed to find the kid, so we could get the hell out of here.

I ran out of the room into a hallway, and I saw the two cats that always nabbed our Time Pieces sitting there in front of me.

I heard the intercom turn on.

"Do I need to replace _ALL of you?!_ Can you not catch _a CHILD?!_" The Empress growled.

"Huh... _HEY!_" The lanky cat shouted after doing a double take, "You should be tied down"

"Does it look like I care?" I grumbled.

"I knew you two were trouble from the beginning!" They muttered again, then lunged at me.

I expected this and sidestepped, and countered with a swift whack to the back of the head, knocking them to the floor. Strangely, they didn't get back up.

"Wow, weak," I muttered.

I heard running and turned around, barely blocking the smaller cat's baseball bat with my baton as they jumped toward me.

They were knocked backward, and I took this as an opportunity to finally use my whirlwind badge for combat and strike away their baseball bat.

They did a double take, and all it took was another quick strike to knock them unconscious.

"Serves you right," I spat, then continued running into more hallways.

Fortunately, it didn't take me long to find the way out of the mess of hallways, and I found myself at the main station, which was completely empty.

I assumed that all the cats had left to chase the kid.

Except one information cat was still there at their station, happily sitting and doing nothing.

"Uh, hello?" I asked.

The cat turned around to face me.

"Oh, you!" They greeted

"Sorry, but... do I know you?" I questioned

"You two came to me to ask about how to leave this place," The cat said.

"Oh," I responded, "Why aren't you... uh... with the others?"

They shook their head.

"I don't like violence," They answered, "I like to help people, not hurt people. That's why _this _is my job."

"Makes sense," I muttered.

"Now... I might get in trouble for this, but I kinda like you guys, so I'll help you out," They said, "Remember how I talked about an escape tunnel in the Bluefin Tunnel?"

"Yeah...?" I said.

"Well... it's kept closed most of the time, and opens itself whenever something bad happens. Now, because of all the ruckus going on I'm 100% sure it'll be open now," They explained, "I told the hatted kid about this, so if you want to see her again and escape, get to that tunnel! If you can get there quickly, you'll probably beat both the others and her to it."

I nodded.

"Alright... thanks a lot," I thanked.

"No problem!" They beamed, "Just don't tell anyone!"

"Of course," I said, then bolted for the bluefin tunnel.

I smirked. I warned her that she wouldn't be able to catch her.

I dropped down beneath the train tracks, and saw three cats patrolling the area with baseball bats.

The intercom turned on again.

"The bounty is now _TWO million! _For _EACH of them! _Bring me that little brat and spineless coward!" She roared.

Oh, she found out I'd escaped.

The cats turned to me and stared.

"Well, uh, this is awkward," I said, "No point in talking. Let's get this over with."

They all lunged at me in unison, and I countered with a whirlwind strike, knocking them all back.

However, these cats were stronger than the two bozos and just got knocked back.

One pulled out a series of kunais with cat paw insignias on them and began to throw them at me. I jumped over them and planted my foot on their face on the way down, knocking them down to the floor with a hard thud.

"Sorry for the potential skull fracture," I muttered, then jumped toward the wall, dodging another cat's lunge.

I kicked off of the wall, extended my baton, and twisted in the air, smacking them extremely hard in the back of the melon. They were punted to the other side of the room and didn't get back up.

I turned to the last cat, who narrowed their eyes. It was then I noticed that they had no mask, but instead had an eyepatch. I could see a quote written on it:

'Kiwami means extreme.'

They dropped their baseball bat and adopted a martial art pose.

"I see through your cold, tough, exterior. You are soft, Mega-san. Bring out your _true _fighting spirit!" They shouted.

I raised an eyebrow. What, was this an anime now? And... were they trying to help me or kill me?

Instead of lunging at me right away, we both began walking in circles, having an unannounced staring contest.

Until suddenly, they jumped toward me in a dropkick at lightning speed, which I wasn't expecting and got knocked back right into the wall... painfully. My entire back ached from it. Didn't seem to break anything, though.

I stared in shock at the cat, who stopped and beckoned me to get up.

I quickly did so and adopted a defensive stance. This cat meant business, I'd have to be serious about this.

They flipped over my head. They landed on the wall and tried to pounce at me from above, but I already knew beforehand what they were doing and countered by whipping around and clocking them hard in their left cheek.

They were knocked back, but landed on their feet and skidded back.

"Good, good," They applauded, adopting another pose again, "But, I must warn you, if you cannot beat me, I will not hesitate to kill you. No, you must show me what you're fighting for! What you believe in!"

They grabbed a couple kunai and began to toss them at me rapidly in groups of three. Fortunately, I managed to avoid getting stuck with one and got close enough to land another hit.

The cat was knocked back with a grunt and retaliated with a lightning fast lunge.

I was unable to get my baton up to block in time and just closed my eyes and braced for impact. I felt a searing pain explode upon the middle-right portion of my face... near my right eye.

I was knocked to the ground and opened my eyes, noticing that I could still see clearly in both eyes. I took a deep sigh of relief.

I quickly got up and blocked another lunge attack, knocking them backward and off balance. While they got back on their feet, I tripped them and hit them again twice.

They kicked me away and flipped back onto their feet.

"Yes! Show me what you're made of!" They shouted, unsheathing a _freaking katana_ from a sheath I hadn't noticed earlier across their back.

"_Is that __**really**__ necessary?!_"I shouted as I dodged a slash.

The cat jumped around the arena holding the katana, lunging at me several times. I managed to sense a pattern and punished each attack accordingly.

Finally, they then jumped all the way up to the roof and kicked off of it toward me at _INSANE _speed.

I _**BARELY **_avoided getting that katana stuck in my head, but it tore a small hole open right on the seam between the hood and the actual sweater, and I felt a _very _strong searing pain across the top of my back.

The sweater that the kid had knitted just for me, they just damaged. I didn't even care about the small wound, it'd heal.

I turned around to see that they had gotten their katana stuck in the floor and was desperately trying to pull it out.

I clenched my fists.

Oh, if they wanted to see what I could do, then see what I could do they would.

I backflipped toward the wall, kicked off of it at an upward angle toward the roof, pushed myself off of the roof, then came down extremely fast in a corkscrew and smacked them with my baton, punting them right into the wall hard enough to shake dust loose.

They fell to the floor and didn't move for a few seconds, then got up, and slowly walked to their katana. They managed to wriggle it out of the floor and wield it toward me again.

But they hesitated. Neither of us moved for what seemed like forever.

Then, they sheathed their weapon and bowed.

"I see the strength within you now. You are strong, Mega-san. I bow in respect of you and your strength, one warrior to another," They said, "Accept this as a token of my respect."

They then stepped forward and gave me a copy of their eyepatch, except bigger to be able to fit my large head.

I looked at them. They nodded, bowed again, then threw a smoke screen down. When it cleared, they were gone.

I looked down at the eyepatch, wondering whether to wear it or not.

Sure, why not?

I flipped my hood off and put it on over my right eye, then flipped my hood back on and continued through the tunnel.

That intense fight had wasted a lot of time and my energy, I'd need to be as fast as possible or else I wouldn't ever see the kid again.

**A/N: So, as you can see, I decided to incorporate the secret mini-boss into this chapter, and give it a few... extra... details. Cause I realized that having Rush Hour not be actively narrated in this part of the story wouldn't make it very climactic, so what better than a boss fight to make up for that?**

**Hopefully it turned out as awesomely as I thought it would.**


	57. Chapter 56: Derailed

Chapter 56: Derailed

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. My sister came over for a few days so I didn't really get much time to write. Things happen.**

Down the tunnel I went. Played chicken with a train to get to the other side again. Went up through the hole in the ceiling again. Another small group of cats tried to stop me, but I took them out with ease.

I stopped where there was originally a puddle of orange stuff, and surprisingly it was still there. It was like they had no janitors... well, if I were a janitor I wouldn't wanna work here either.

I didn't want to risk staining my sweater, so I smeared some of the grease around with my shoe. I knew the Rumbi would probably clean it all up, but I didn't wanna take any chances.

It did the trick anyway, the Rumbi came rushing over to my location and bounced me up. I didn't stop afterward, I kept running through the train tracks, hopped up to a ledge, and saw many more cats waiting for me, like five.

"Keep running, you two. You're not home yet!"

"Yeah, keep running, coward!" A cat yelled. I then turned around to see a LOT of cats rushing through to get to me. There were probably like twenty or more flooding through into the room and jumping on top of the train to get to me.

"Oh, dear God," I muttered, then barged through the cats ahead of me into the vent.

I saw that there was an opened vent in the floor next to us, and assumed it was the escape tunnel.

I quickly checked for the kid, and saw her weaving her way between the trains. She hopped down the escape chute and so did I.

When I landed, I saw the kid quickly gathering some things around.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

She quickly made a barricade, blocking any chances of the cats following us.

She stopped and took a quick sigh of relief, before turning to face me.

"I'm glad you're okay," She said, then looked right at me and cringed.

"What?" I asked.

"Wh-what happened?!" She shouted, pointing at my eye.

Oh.

"I didn't lose my eye, kid. We're good," I said.

"But what happened? Tell me everything!" She shouted.

I heard thumping coming from the barricade.

"Maybe when we get out of this stupid place," I suggested.

She nodded and we ran. We fell down between two train tracks and ran forward into a larger room with no floor. We jumped and dove before a train to land on another train, then turned around and quickly jumped on the train we originally dodged and jumped across to a ledge.

The path ahead was obstructed by some wood with a glowing yellow center.

I saw some graffiti on the wall in front of us, which showed a cat and the words 'WE SEE YOU'.

"Well that's reassuring," I muttered to myself.

I heard a bang, and the path was cleared. We jumped down and hopped on top of another train. We had to jump around a sign, which was odd as you wouldn't expect people to be down here often... but it didn't matter at the moment.

We had to hop over another small sign, then we saw another train appear from below that we had to hop onto or else we would've collided into a massive sign.

Instead, the kid activated her Dweller Mask, causing a purple wall in front of us to vanish.

Then we had to hop back onto the original train, then we hopped over some small signs and hopped onto the other train in the same jump, landing just underneath an overlooming sign, then hopped back onto the original train to dodge yet another giant sign,then hopped through a purple wall onto the second train.

We then hopped over a few more tiny signs and landed on the other side.

"Phew... what a workout," I muttered.

Up ahead was another situation where we'd have to play chicken with a train, except there weren't any places to hide between where we needed to go and where we were. It'd be very tight timing.

"And it ain't gonna be getting any easier, is it?" I grumbled.

The kid giggled, donning her Time Stop Hat.

"Relax," She said. A train passed, then she grabbed my hand.

An instant later, I was left completely disoriented, tripped, and faceplanted into the floor.

With a groan, I got up to see that we were on the other side. Seemed like the kid slowed down time and pulled me along with her to the other side.

"Ah," I said, "Well, I'm happy that didn't kill me. I guess that's another convenient difference between this world and mine."

She nodded and we walked into the next room, full of, you guessed it, train tracks everywhere.

We were able to climb on top of one train, then jump to the next and the next and make it to the top of the room easily.

We then came at what seemed to be a dead end. There were many powered-off cat rumbis around and a puddle of goop in the center, as well as a cat rumbi poking around beneath a grate in the floor.

"I think we both know what has to happen here," I said, looking upward. Sure enough, large gap in the ceiling.

The kid quickly lured the rumbi out and we hopped on top of it, then dove toward a cat rumbi on a wall and got bounced up higher.

There were six cats waiting for us.

I quickly clenched my baton, but they didn't react. They noticed us, surely, but they just didn't seem to _care._ Suspicious, given the large bounty we both had.

"I don't trust this," I told the kid.

"The escape elevator's right there. Let's just go before they can do anything," She said, "No reason to fight anyone if they aren't in our way."

"Fine," I grumbled, and we walked toward the elevator.

It opened before us, and it was occupied.

The Empress sat there with a huge, evil grin.

I took a defensive stance, and I saw the kid fall down in surprise.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," The Empress said calmly.

We both stepped backward, but we bumped into something. I turned around and saw that the cats were blocking our exit. We were surrounded.

"This ain't good," I muttered to myself.

"Step inside, won't you?" She asked calmly.

Well, it wasn't like we really had a choice.

I sighed and stepped inside, resting on the opposite corner of the Empress, whereas the kid walked up right next to her.

The door closed, and the elevator began to move. We were sealed in.

"Did you think you'd get out? Both of you?" She asked, then looked at me. "I will be honest, how you managed to break out of my confines is quite impressive. Too bad it only postponed the inevitable, hm?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"And you," She said, turning to the kid, "Did you think you were smart, little girl? That you could outsmart me, the Empress, and my minions?"

She gave a timid look that said "Kinda"

Empress shook her head disappointedly. "I thought I could trust you two. It's so _rare_ I make a _bad investment,_" She grumbled.

She fumed. I could see her anger building again, and with it I began to get nervous.

"That you'd be so greedy as to steal from _me... _so bold, for someone so small..." She growled toward the kid, then looked straight at me. "and someone so pathetic."

I frowned.

Pathetic? Where'd she get _that _from?

She then scratched her head.

"All my fault, really. I should have a better eye for who I elevate," She noted to herself, then shook her head slowly. "You two could have been important people here one day. I was even considering making you my second-in-commands. But you've disappointed me..."

I slowly put my hand on my baton.

"_**And it's time I cash out.**_"

I braced myself for anything, but then the elevator stopped and the doors opened. I turned around to see two police officers stepping inside. It was getting pretty cramped in this elevator now, but I wasn't complaining.

I don't think there ever could've been better timing in the history of the entire multiverse. Some god, somewhere, was smiling down upon us. Surely.

I looked back at the Empress, and I saw a look on her face that would've made me burst out laughing if the situation wasn't so tense: Surprise and anxiety.

"Oh! Officers," She greeted, failing to keep the anxiety out of her voice. She then rapidly began pressing a button on the elevator wall. "How... convenient. I was _just _about to get out!"

She then leaned over and whispered something in my ear: "They're a _lot _harder to get rid of than you are."

It took all my willpower to not burst out laughing. The elevator opened again, and the Empress bolted out of the elevator, but quickly stopped and looked back, giving us both death glares.

"_We'll meet again, __**coward!**_" She shouted before running away.

The door closed again, and the four of us waited in silence for a minute before the elevator opened again and one of the officers stepped out.

The other officer then turned to us.

"Hey, you two. Don't worry, I'm on the... uh... jewelry store payroll," They explained.

... Wait, this cat was with the Empress?

"... Did something happen while I was upstairs? The boss looked _mad._" They asked awkwardly.

So they must not have known about the whole... well... yeah.

I decided to play dumb, and merely threw my arms up in an "I have no idea" gesture.

"Anyway, I had something to give her, but I couldn't make the trade with my partner here," The cat said, motioning beside them, "I know she's had you two tracking them down, so take care of it for me."

He then handed me a Time Piece.

"Yep, we'll make sure this gets put where it should be," I said.

The cat nodded.

"Are you getting out for the day?" They asked.

"Yeah, we finished up and we're heading home for now," I lied, "Does this elevator go outside of the Metro?"

The cat nodded.

"Here, let me help you with that," They said, then walked over to the panel of buttons on the wall and hit one of the buttons. The elevator began to move again.

"Thanks," I said.

"... Sooo... you have no idea why the boss was so upset?" They asked.

"Nope. Not a clue. Hopefully she calms down by the time we return," I muttered, "An angry Empress is not something anyone wants to deal with."

The policecat laughed.

"Isn't that the truth?" They muttered.

The elevator doors opened, revealing the outside world.

"Well, here's your stop," They said.

"Thanks," I said, and we stepped out, "I hope everything turns out alright."

"... O-kay, thanks... you too," They said confusedly, then waved as the elevator doors closed.

I took the biggest sigh of relief to ever be sighed.

"I thought we were done for," I muttered, then gave the Time Piece to the kid. "Let's go back to the ship before anything _else _happens."

"Don't need to say that again," The kid said, and so we did.

We were back in the storage room. Back in the spaceship. And we wouldn't ever have to return to that damn metro ever again.

We returned to the main hub and the kid opened the vault, dumping all nine Time Pieces back where they belonged.

I looked at the giant monitor, which ticked up to say 45/56.

We were like 80% done.

"Okay!" She shouted enthusiastically , "Now that we're back, you have to tell me what happened after Empress took you."

I chuckled.

"Well. Here's basically what happened," I began, "She took me to this surveillance room so she could watch you on the cameras and interrogate me at the same time. I didn't tell her anything. She even threatened to kill me, and I still didn't back down."

That seemed to surprise her.

"Why?" She asked.

I shook my head.

"She put you in danger. There was _**ABSOLUTELY**_ _no way _I was going to help someone trying to get you killed. Never," I explained, "But... she had to leave shortly after, I guess to harrass you, and I was left alone, so I used the Shadow Badge to escape. I then had to beat up those two morons who kept taking the Time Pieces from us as they were in my way, then I got back to the main hub and talked to the information guy."

"Oh, yeah! They told me to get to the Bluefin Tunnel to escape!" She said happily.

"He said the same thing to me. Everyone was going after you, so I managed to get to the Bluefin Tunnel easily. But here's where the fun part begins," I said.

"What?" She asked.

"Well... when I went down into the tunnel, three cats were waiting for me just as the Empress put a bounty on my head as well. I took out two of them easily, but the third one, well..." I muttered, "He was some kind of warrior. He told me I was soft, and told me to 'show him my fighting spirit'."

"Weird thing for an enemy to say," She said.

"He came after me with martial arts, kunais, and even a _freaking katana_ 'just' to see what I was made of. I managed to beat him though, and he gave me this cool eyepatch in respect to my strength," I explained, "Seemed like a cool guy though. He did give me that nasty scratch across my eye though."

She smiled. "I think it makes you look tough!" She said, "People will take one look at you and know instantly not to mess with you!"

I smirked, then took a deep breath.

"Well? What do we do now?" I asked.

"It's been awhile..." She said.

"Since?" I questioned.

"Since I beat you at racing!" She shouted.

I laughed.

"Pretty sure _I _won that time, kiddo," I teased, grabbing her hat and giving her a light noogie on the top of the head.

"Hey!" She shouted, grabbing her hat back, "Well, if you're so sure about that, let's race again!"

I laughed again.

"With pleasure."

**A/N: So that's the end of Nyakuza Metro. Next up, the spaceship Time Rifts, and a final return to the Metro for a certain Time Rift. An interesting encounter is sure to follow.**

**Review time:**

**Fighter33000: Glad you liked it. I figured that just climbing through the Bluefin Tunnel would be too boring for the Finale, so what better than a fight against an anime cat to jazz it up? Heh. Thanks for the feedback.**

**EmacSane: Trust me, I was just as amazed when I found out. If you search up 'Gellot A Hat In Time' on youtube, you should be able to find his video about the fight. Although it's not **_**quite **_**like what I made it into. Thanks for the review.**

**Well, that's all for now. Seeya next chapter, folks.**


	58. Chapter 57: Cruise Tickets and Favours

Chapter 57: Cruise Tickets and Favours

I think you can probably guess what happened for the next, like, half an hour.

If you guessed that we raced in her game, well, you'd be right. Who won, you ask? Well...

"Ha!" The kid shouted, "In your face!"

"Yeah, yeah. Well played and all that," I muttered, "So... you've won 4 races now and I've won 5? And first to six wins?"

"Mhm," She said confidently.

"So two more races until I win. Got it," I said with a smirk.

"You mean one more race until _I _win," She countered.

"Uhh, _sure,_" I retorted.

I scooted closer to the small television to get a better view.

"Wait," She said, "What happened to your sweater?"

Huh?

I looked over my shoulder and saw her giving me a confused and concerned glare.

Wait...

Oh, what a dummy, I completely forgot that that cat slashed my sweater. Typical me.

"Didn't get out of the way fast enough for one attack. I didn't get hurt, but, well..." I muttered.

"I have to fix that right away!" She said.

I smirked.

"I thought we were busy?" I replied.

She blew a raspberry.

"Video games are less important than fashion!" She pouted.

I definitely did not agree with that statement, but there'd be no changing her mind.

"Well, I guess we'll call it a draw," I said.

"But I won one more race than you did!" She shouted.

"_Fiiine. _You win," I muttered grudgingly and jokingly.

A giant grin appeared on her face and she clapped her hands, then she ran into her bedroom, shouting that she needed to grab her sewing supplies.

While she was fumbling around, I quickly took off my sweater, folded it up nicely, and when she returned, I handed it to her.

She quickly got to work and I sat down and watched.

It really was quite amazing to watch the kid at work. I didn't quite understand how she did it, it was unlike anything else I'd seen before.

Like, I couldn't even _begin _to explain what exactly she was doing, all I knew was that it was working.

_**INTRUDER ALERT!**_

_**INTRUDER ALERT!**_

I quickly whipped my head around to see who was standing there.

There's a face we hadn't seen in awhile.

It was the Cooking Cat.

I got up and walked over. The kid put down what she was doing and walked over as well.

"Hello, dears! Sorry for going away for so long, _someone _had to make sure the Mafia didn't poison themselves!" The cat greeted warmly.

"Well that's a pretty good reason if I do say so myself," I said, "I'd be surprised if one of those buffoons could even make a microwaveable dinner with the instructions right in front of them."

She chuckled awkwardly, like she was recalling a not very pleasant memory.

"You're not wrong," She said, "But anyway, what have you two extraterrestrials been up to?"

"Long story. We've done a _lot. _In fact, we're almost done our mission," I said.

"Oh! That's wonderful!" She exclaimed, "What will you two do afterward?"

I scratched my head.

Not exactly something I wanted to think about at the moment. I knew we had to leave once we were finished, but... was leaving such a good idea?

I shook my head. Wasn't gonna bother myself with that crisis, nope. I'd talk to the kid about it when we were done.

"Dunno," I simply said, "What about you? What are you up to?"

"Well, I'm about to go on vacation! I've been very busy, so a friend of mine took over cooking for the Mafia and helped book me onto a cruise ship!" She exclaimed.

"Nice," I said.

"Also, because I know how busy you dears have been looking for those weird hourglasses, I decided to book for you two as well! And you won't even need to pay a single pon!" She said happily.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" I said, "That's... amazing, and thank you. We really appreciate it. But... we can't rest until we're done."

"Oh, hush!" She shushed, "You two deserve a break. You've been hard at work for, what, over a month now? You should take some time off."

"But... we have," I said awkwardly, "We take breaks when we finish searching an area."

"Well, clearly they weren't long or serious enough! You two need to take some time to completely unwind. Let your mind off your worries and just relax without a care in the world!" She suggested, "And an arctic cruise is the best place to do it!"

"But it's serious, though..." I muttered.

The kid then tugged on my arm. I looked over and she motioned to follow her out of earshot. I did so, and she turned to me.

"I don't think we should go through with this. A vacation? Sure, maybe when the _job's done _and we don't have to worry about a _certain someone_ completely screwing up space and time," I reasoned.

She shook her head.

"You don't get it," She said, "We can look for Time Pieces _on _the ship! So we can relax _and _collect Time Pieces at once! Win-win!"

"But what if there aren't any there?" I countered.

She smirked.

"Oh, there will be. I just know it," She replied confidently, "Besides, if we don't find anything, we can return to the ship and go look somewhere else. There's no reason why we shouldn't go through with this. And she's right! We deserve a nice break. Well, _you _deserve a break. You're constantly overthinking, and worrying, and panicking. Honestly, you look tired. You need to just turn your brain off and relax."

"If only it were that easy," I grumbled, "But... I guess you're right. And I don't think I've been on many... or any cruises before. So... okay, let's do this."

She smiled and walked back to Cooking Cat. I smirked and shook my head.

"This kid has me completely wrapped around her finger..." I muttered, then walked back over as well.

"The ship sets sail in five days. Don't be late, now," Cooking Cat explained, smirking at me.

Was it really **THAT** obvious that the kid could persuade me so easily?

I chuckled.

"Alright, we'll be there," I said.

She then handed us our tickets for the cruise with a smile, said a quick goodbye, and jumped out.

"I imagine she has a way to land safely?" I muttered.

"See? You're overthinking again!" The kid pouted.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed, "I can't help it!"

She shook her head annoyedly.

"Well, I should get back to fixing your sweater," She muttered, skipping back over to the tv and beginning to hum as she got to work.

Meanwhile, I just sat down at the front and stared out the giant window at the planet below. Admiring the impeccable view.

Wasn't long before the kid shouted in victory, and I turned to see her holding up the repaired sweater.

I walked over and took it back, then looked for where the stitching was.

I couldn't find it. It was like it was brand new. No trace of slashing or whatnot anywhere.

"How did you...?" I exclaimed, then looked at her. She seemed confused. "How did you stitch it so well? I seriously can't find where it was slashed."

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"I just... do, I guess," She muttered.

"Fair enough," I replied, then put the stitched sweater on.

This time I wouldn't let it get damaged so easily.

An alarm blared through the ship, causing me to frown. Hooray, time rifts.

I begged to the multiverse that it wouldn't be where I thought it would be.

I watched the kid head up to the big monitor and tap it...

And it seemed the multiverse didn't hear me.

It was in the Metro. Yay.

The photo showed a purple one in a corner of the Yellow Overpass. At least it was close, we could find it easily if we weren't... uh... bothered.

The kid seemed just as disgruntled as me about the situation, though.

"Why there...?" She pouted.

"Well, I guess we don't really have a choice on what we're doing now, do we?" I grumbled.

She nodded miserably. We went to the storage room and teleported down.

We hitched a ride to the metro, as we normally did, and I noticed that everyone else in the train was staring at us.

"What are you looking at?" I hissed.

They all looked away. Good.

We arrived at the main station quickly. One thing I noticed was that there was police tape and two policecats in front of the Empress' jewelry store.

Curious, I walked up to the cat on the right.

"What happened here?" I asked.

"I think you know what happened here," They grumbled, "You angered the Empress and caused a huge fuss, and now we have to clean up after it. At least it keeps us paid."

"Uhh..." I muttered awkwardly.

"You can go in and talk to her, if you want. She won't do anything with _us _around," They said with a grin, "She won't admit it, but she's completely terrified of us."

I turned to the kid.

"Well? Should we talk to her?" I asked.

She nodded rapidly with a big, smug grin.

"Okay, but try not to... uh... y'know, taunt her or anything. Police or no police, I don't think she'll accept it," I advised.

She nodded, and we stepped inside. There were two more police officers off to the side, doing who knows what.

The Empress watched us approach her.

"Walking right back into my claws... bold," She muttered, "Make no mistake. If the police weren't making a show of investigating things right now, you would _not _be leaving a second time."

"Well, it's just our luck that we managed to get out in the first place. You really had us there," I admitted.

"Don't remind me," She muttered, "After your little _stunt, _the Chief wants to renegotiate our business proposal. He thinks sending a few of his kittens down here will pressure me."

She chuckled darkly.

"However, it _does_ mean that I need to keep things in check though. No 'accidents' happening to anyone, you know," She muttered, "But, this will all blow over soon. If you're both smart, then _you'll run._"

"Uh... we don't plan on staying here very long anyway. We just came by to... uh..." I said.

"Deal with that strange purple orb that appeared in the Yellow Overpass," She guessed.

"... Yeah, that," I muttered, "It won't take too long. Then we'll be out of your hair for good."

"Good," She grumbled.

I walked away, then stopped and turned around.

"Also, I know you probably don't care, but, uh, sorry for the whole betrayal and stealing thing. We never _wanted _to have to do it, but we kinda had no choice," I apologized uncomfortably.

She rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't matter anymore. Just go do what you need to do and never come back," She hissed.

I walked away and chuckled. I had a feeling that was coming.

When we stepped outside, the kid seemed to adopt a thoughtful look.

"What?" I asked.

"She seemed really miserable about everything. I wonder if she really did trust us and was hoping we could join her team," She muttered, "If so, our betrayal probably hit her hard."

"But Time Pieces are more important, so too bad for her," I grumbled, "Why does it matter now, anyway? You were the one telling _me _to stay focused earlier."

"I'm wondering if we can maybe make it up to her. Maybe do a few favours for her to... well... not get her to forgive us, but at least not want us dead," She thought aloud.

I put a hand to my chin. She definitely didn't seem like someone we wanted to have as an enemy. Because once the police left... we'd be completely unable to return here or else we'd die. So if more Time Rifts appeared... well...

"Well, I guess we could talk to her afterward and see what she thinks. I'm sure she wouldn't say no to someone doing a job for her for free," I agreed, "But let's go deal with that Time Rift already."

We headed to the Yellow Overpass station-the easy way, this time-and found the Time Rift tucked away in a corner.

"Stay here, make sure nobody comes and sets up a trap or something," She stated.

"And if something _does _go wrong?" I asked.

"Come into the rift and try to find me. And _no_, nothing bad will happen if I close the rift and you aren't with me. It just makes it a bit more annoying for me, that's all," She explained.

I nodded. That cleared up my main worry.

"Alright. Sounds like a plan," I muttered, and she hopped into the rift.

I leaned against the wall and waited.

"You came back... you have nerve, I'll give you that."

I looked around and saw a cat waiting in the shadows.

I shook my head.

"Not really. I just kinda had no choice. This thing is, like, really important and needs to be dealt with right away," I explained, pointing at the Time Rift.

"Important enough to risk your life after you both got so close to losing them?" The cat asked.

"Well... yeah," I replied.

The cat chuckled.

"Sounds just like a true warrior," The cat said, then stepped out of the shadows. A familiar eyepatch covered their left eye.

"Oh, it's you," I said, "Should I be relieved...?"

The cat chuckled.

"Don't worry, I have no need to fight you again," They explained, "I must admit, Empress was not pleased with me after you two got away, but such is life. I do not fear her or her wrath. She knows I am not like her other goons, and she knows that if she tried to trick or kill me, that it would not end well for her, and I'll try to show her the same for you two."

"Why, though?" I asked, "Why help us?"

"A true warrior helps a warrior in need," They answered.

I nodded slowly.

"Well, thanks. Glad to have friends in here," I said.

They nodded, then walljumped and somersaulted out of view.

"What a cool person," I muttered.

The kid popped out of the rift soon, and it disappeared. She seemed a bit... off, though. She wasn't smiling, and she seemed a bit sad.

"Hey kid... did something happen in there?" I asked.

"That rift... wasn't like the other rifts," She said, "Instead of being themed after the area we found it in... this one... hit closer to home."

It _what?_

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"It was a factory. A... rumbi factory. And it was filled with angri rumbis that would chase me and explode," She said, "There's no way Rumbi would actually do that... no, that couldn't be real, could it? Why would it be here of all places, anyway?"

"How do Time Rifts appear anyway?" I asked.

"They appear after someone gets hit on the head with a Time Piece, but the swirling orbs that let you inside of them don't appear for awhile afterward and often like to appear all at once," She explained, "Blue rifts are the more common ones, but if someone is hit really hard with one, the rift can be filled with their memories."

I put two and two together.

"Did you feel anything hit you on the head while you were exploring around here?" I asked.

She adopted a thoughtful look, then a look of realization hit her.

"Yeah... I did," She said, "When I turned around to see what hit me, there was nothing there."

"Did you ever visit a factory that produced Rumbis?" I asked.

She took a gulp of air.

"My... my father worked for the Rumbi company," She said desolately, "He was a factory worker... he helped maintain the robots and things that kept the factory running."

It all came together.

"So that was your Time Rift," I explained, "Maybe I should've been the one to go in there..."

She shook her head.

"No, it's a good thing I did," She muttered, "I feel a tiny bit better now."

I smiled.

"That's always good to hear," I responded, "Shall we go pay the Empress another visit?"

She smirked and nodded.

So we did.

We went back to the main station and entered the Empress' store once again.

"Did you finish what you needed to do?" She asked.

"Well, yes, but-" I said, but was interrupted.

"Then _leave,_" She hissed.

"Well, we were wondering if there was anything we could do to make up for the loss of the Time Pieces," I explained, "I mean, at least so that you won't try to kill us whenever you have the chance. We don't want to stay on your bad side. So if there's anything we can do for you, let us know. We'll gladly help. For free."

She fumed, then seemed to get deep in thought.

I stood there and scratched my head, waiting for a response.

She then nodded slowly.

"Free labour, with anything I want... hm. I suppose that _could _be useful..." She thought aloud, "Fine. If I want your assistance, I will call upon you. But don't expect to ever get anything from me, and don't think you can try to betray me again. I'm watching you two, and if you do anything, and I mean _**ANYTHING, **_I will have you both killed before you can even scream."

I stepped back in alarm.

Yikes, she was _really _upset about that, wasn't she?

"We'll keep that in mind..." I muttered.

"Good. I don't have any plans for now... _for obvious reasons... _so I shouldn't expect to see you two roaming around my metro for at least two weeks," She grumbled.

"We'll be busy soon anyway," I replied.

"Good. So, now that we have that arranged, get out of my sight," She grumbled.

I nodded and we left.

We hopped on a train out of the Metro, and I turned to the kid and smirked.

"Well, I'd say that went well, wouldn't you?" I asked.

"Mhm," She said, "She's probably gonna make us do some really nasty and dangerous stuff, though."

"Stuff that we'll be able to handle," I assured her.

She nodded rapidly.

Working for the Empress again... certainly not something I was expecting, but better than being on her wanted list.

But for now, we'd have to prepare for our upcoming cruise.

Finally, I'd be able to relax. I didn't realize how much I needed it until now, and...

Whoo, boy, I couldn't wait.

**A/N: Well, there you have it. If you're wondering what the favours for the Empress will be like... well, they're not gonna be in this story. They'll be in the next one. But yeah, it'll be doing random jobs for her, stealing/heisting things, transporting things, uh... 'taking care' of enemies... you know, doing what you'd expect to do when working in a large criminal syndicate.**

**It'll be fun, that's for sure. Next chapter, we begin the Arctic Cruise... or deal with the spaceship Time Rifts. Haven't decided yet.**

**But that brings up something I've been thinking: Because the Arctic Cruise is so short, I'm gonna be probably adding some filler content between missions and what have you, but I'm not **_**exactly **_**sure what I'm gonna do for said filler content, so it might take awhile to figure that all out. I'll do what I can.**

**But anyway, thanks for reading, and see y'all next chapter.**


	59. Chapter 58: Time for a Vacation

Chapter 58: Time for a Vacation

**A/N: Well, this took a little bit longer to get out. I had to write this chapter twice, because I didn't like the first version I had and had to delete it all. What fun. **

With not much else to do, we decided to head to Mafia Town. However, we didn't really find anything there. The Mafia were grumpy and not bright, as per usual, no new faces, no events, no nothing. Boring.

So we stopped by Dead Bird Studio as well.

Well, it certainly wasn't boring _there._

We walked in on an _extremely _heated argument between Conductor and DJ Grooves. Heh, it was almost like when we first came to this place, except this time DJ Grooves was actually yelling and Conductor seemed just about ready to kill someone in a blind rage.

It was hard to hear what they were arguing about over all the yelling, cursing, and threatening, but it seemed like they were arguing over the award ceremony incident...

Of course they were. What else would have them both riled up so much?

I turned to the kid.

"Uh... maybe we should come back later?" I suggested.

She scratched the back of her head, then nodded.

We returned to the ship, and I whistled out of awe.

"Don't think I've ever seen either of them _that _mad before. Conductor seemed ready to kill someone," I muttered, "And DJ Grooves actually yelled at him. Yikes. Probably for the best that we just wait for them to calm down."

"Yeah..." She said, "Let's go pay our BFF a visit!"

I tilted my head in thought. It had been a little while since we actually messed with him. Seemed like he was messing with _us_ more. So a little surprise visit wouldn't hurt.

"Alright," I agreed.

So, we did. Into the telescope to Subcon Forest we looked, and poof, we were back at Snatcher's tree again.

This time, he was sat down in his chair, reading away at his book with his typical dopey smile.

I watched the kid creep around to the back of the tree, then sneak up _right _behind him and...

"BOO!"

Snatcher didn't so much as move, but his smile dropped instantly.

He looked over his shoulder and gave the kid a blank stare.

"**Kid,**" He grumbled, "**I thought you'd have realized by now, **_**I DON'T SCARE EASILY. **_**I might as well be the **_**embodiment **_**of fear **_**itself! **_**You think that pathetic little 'boo' is gonna get **_**me?**_"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"It was worth a try!" She countered.

Snatcher tilted his head.

"**Eh, I guess so. Can't fault you for doing something I myself enjoy doing, after all,**" He muttered, "**But a tiny little thing like you wouldn't even have a **_**chance **_**of giving this old spirit a spook, kiddo.**" He patted her head as he said that last part.

I walked inside of his tree, then crossed my arms and smirked.

"What about me?" I countered.

He turned around.

"**Oh, **_**there**_** you are,**" He said, then stared at me with a thoughtful expression. "**Eh, I could see you giving people a few good scares with practice. That weird badge you got earlier would probably help with that, too. But I don't think even **_**you'd **_**stand a chance of spooking **_**me, **_**punk.**"

I nodded with a smug smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever makes you sleep at night," I taunted.

"**Speaking of that weird badge, though, I didn't get to talk to you about that,**" He said, "**I have never seen anything like **_**that **_**before. What is it?**"

"Talk to Badge Seller, he knows more about it than I do. All I know is that it's some special, super powerful badge that seems to really like me," I muttered, shrugging my shoulders.

"**Badges don't like people, kid. They're badges,**" He retorted.

"Well this one does," I countered, "I said it's special for a reason. And why does it concern you anyway?"

"**I want it,**" He answered, "**If it likes **_**you **_**of all people, imagine what it'd do for me!**"

"It wouldn't work on you anyway. You're a ghost. And frankly, it's not for sale," I grumbled.

His eye twitched comically.

Then he grinned.

"**Gee, calm down! I was just answering your question!**" He laughed, "**But if you **_**DIE, **_**you know who's getting that badge!**"

I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks, you really seem confident in my ability to survive," I grumbled.

"**No problem!**" He countered.

What a character.

I looked at the kid, who was sitting and watching in amusement.

"Well, kid? What now?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"**I know,**" Snatcher butted in, "**Why don't you go... **_**somewhere else?**_ **Preferably a bottomless pit?**"

I rolled my eyes once again.

"Fine, we'll give you a break," I muttered, "Let's go, kid."

With that, we left. When we got back to the ship, Cooking Cat was there again. I asked her if there was any reason she was there, or if she was just visiting, and she said that she was going to help us prepare for the cruise, because she had a feeling neither of us had been on any sort of vacation and might not know what to bring or leave behind.

"You know," I responded to that, "If we needed something, we could just come back here, get it, then go back."

"Oh, hush!" She silenced me, "That would defeat the purpose of a vacation, dear!"

She had a point.

"Fair enough."

So, for the next couple of days, Cooking Cat helped us prepare our luggage and what have you.

Neither of us brought much, we didn't have much to bring anyway. And most of the items that we _did _have seemed to stow themselves away in some sort of pocket dimension inside our pockets... as redundant as that sounds.

So, we merely packed some spare clothes. Oh, and the kid packed a few of her things, like what seemed to be a strange book that I only caught a small glimpse of, as well as some toys or whatever.

The book did intrigue me though. Was she a reader? Then how come I'd never seen her do any reading?

I shook my head. It was her private stuff, it'd probably for the better if I didn't try to assume things or snoop.

But, after a few days, we had everything packed and were ready to set sail, pun intended. We had our suitcases hoisted across our backs as we both had a feeling that getting to the ship wouldn't be just a straight path.

No. This planet had an obsession with platforming.

However, we also knew where the ship was departing from: a dock in a city near the planet's north pole.

I wasn't exactly sure how we'd get there, though, but the kid seemed to read my thoughts and made me follow her into the engine room.

We stopped in front of a giant laundry machine that I hadn't noticed before, and it had a panel next to it that said it required 35 Time Pieces and that we were ready to open up the room again.

"Oh, I should probably go open up the Attic, too," She said, "I'm sure you'd like to have a bedroom to yourself."

"As long as it's not decrepit, dusty, and infested with insects like most attics are, yes, I would," I agreed.

She giggled.

"I try to keep it clean, but you don't see much bugs in space anyway, for obvious reasons," She explained.

I nodded. Made sense.

"But we can worry about the Attic later, we have a ship to catch," I said, "Got your ticket?"

She nodded.

I checked for mine, and I had it as well.

She tapped the panel, opening the front of the laundry machine.

She then stepped inside and motioned for me to do the same.

I reluctantly did so.

"I hope this stupid thing won't soak us," I grumbled.

"It's just an elevator," She said.

Sure enough, it dropped us to a special room. The laundry room.

"Having access to an entire room dedicated to laundry should make our lives easier," I said, "When was the last time we did laundry?"

She shook her head with a frown.

"I haven't done any since I lost the Time Pieces. I'm not doing laundry by hand!" She pouted.

"Yikes," I said, "Good thing you're a kid, though. But I guess we know what we're doing once we're back from our cruise."

She nodded and walked towards a telescope.

"Finally, it's time for a vacation!" She shouted, then peered through the telescope and vanished. I did the same.

I landed at a very well decorated dock. Flowers and grass everywhere, the ship looming in the back, lots of people and luggage, just what I was expecting.

I also saw some Moon Penguins and Express Owls there, even the crows were coming along.

The kid talked to an Express Owl, who said that they were looking forward to something reliable after riding on Conductor's train for so long.

Good thing Conductor wasn't there to hear that, heh. He'd not be happy.

We also talked to some strange tourist guy, who was grumbling about not being able to get to the Sun. I would've told him that it's obvious he couldn't get to the Sun cause he'd burn up before he got anywhere close, but it didn't seem worth the effort.

We also talked to some Moon Penguins. One talked about a 'one flipper discount' to get tickets for the ship, which I didn't ask to elaborate.

Also, fun fact: apparently there's a bit of a role reversal with how owls and penguins treat water.

The Moon Penguins hate water. The Express Owls love it.

Weird, huh?

But lastly, we walked up to the dock and saw a certain yellow bird waiting there.

Conductor! Quite surprising, given how dedicated he seemed to his movies. He was accompanied by some smaller birds that looked just like him. Grandchildren, maybe?

We approached him.

"Well it isn't the little lass, and her knight in shinin' armour. How's stardom treatin ye?" He greeted.

I merely shrugged my shoulders, and the kid did the same.

"Quite a surprise to see you here, though," I said, "Thought you'd be busying yourself with recording as you usually do. Just taking a break?"

"I could ask ye both the same, lad," He countered.

I scratched my head.

"But... yea. Tell you the truth, I'm taking some time off after that _**DJ PECK NECK **_tried to... y'know!" He grumbled.

"Yeah..." I muttered, "We saw you two arguing earlier, did something happen?"

"Did somethin' happen? _DID SOMETHIN''-_ah, I should keep me voice down..." He responded, "He just walked back into the studio like nothing happened! And expected us all to forget it did! He said that ye forgave him, so that we should just act as if nothin' ever happened! Can you believe him?!"

"Well that does sound like worthy reason to get upset. Forgiving isn't forgetting," I agreed, "We'll have to talk to him later."

"Wait a minute, he was tellin' the truth?" He asked.

"Yep!" The kid exclaimed. I heard her giggle then saw that the smaller birds were all over her.

It brought a smile to my face.

"Ye shouldn't have forgiven him so easily..." He grumbled.

"Well, we did, and we had good reason to," I replied.

"But I won't!" He stated, "He doesn't _deserve_ forgiveness!"

I sighed. Just as stubborn as ever.

"I don't think that's your decision to make," I mumbled.

"You don't have to forgive him," The kid said, "Just please, don't give him a hard time. He really does regret what he did. So if you can't forgive him, at least don't bother him about it. Please."

He took a deep breath.

"Alright, lass. If ye say so," He muttered, "But anyway... I'd better go ask about the childcare on board. I _love _these lil' blighters, but I cannae bring them to the bar with me, can I?"

"Yeah, I'd say so," I agreed jokingly, "We should probably get going as well. Right, kid?"

She nodded.

"I wanna see what it's like on the ship!" She shouted.

"Then why wait?" I asked, but she was already skipping ahead. I slowly walked up ahead but kept my distance. I thought I'd let her do some interacting by herself. I mean, I was always the one doing the talking.

We both stopped when a deep, grumpy voice spoke next to us.

"Are we ready to set sail?"

I looked to the left and saw a large walrus in a captain's outfit, with two cigarettes in his mouth. Seemed pretty obvious who he was.

He was holding a walkie talkie, and was responded with an unholy noise on the other end.

He promptly turned off the walkie talkie with a sigh.

The kid giggled.

The , meanwhile, had approached what seemed to be a small seal in a uniform.

"We hope you have a great time!" It greeted with a toddler's voice.

The kid seemed to have a heart attack.

I guess she must've found the seal super cute...?

Only logical explanation for that reaction. I didn't really see what the fuss was about though. Sure, they seemed adorable, but nothing could compare to the kid.

She then walked up to the captain and waved.

"Uh... you look a little young to be sailing alone, pup," He muttered.

I smirked and walked up to the Captain.

"She isn't alone, Captain," I stated.

He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you her-actually, whatever. I have bigger problems to deal with," He grumbled, "Tickets are being accepted up ahead."

"Thank you!" The kid shouted, then ran ahead.

I proceeded to run after her, but...

"Wait," The Captain muttered.

I turned around.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I don't know who you are to her, but try to keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't get in anyone's way. The crew already does enough of that, and I'm already under enough stress," He requested.

I smirked and saluted him.

"Aye aye, Captain."

I then ran ahead to catch up with the kid.


	60. Chapter 59: Set Sail

Chapter 59: Set Sail

**A/N: Ach. This chapter was a pain to write... I had to delete and re-write everything TWICE because I wasn't satisfied with the end result. And I'd rather delay a chapter to upload content I'm satisfied with instead of vomit out chapters I hardly even put any effort into. So, uh, yeah. Sorry for the delay, I guess.**

I caught up to the kid, who was walking up to the ramp. She stopped and waved up at someone.

One glance told me that it was certainly gonna be an interesting encounter.

The Mafia Boss, in his stupid jarry splendor. Another face... or lack therefore of... we hadn't seen in awhile.

He grumbled at the sight of us.

"First you kill me, then you torment me by booking passage on the _ONLY _cruise liner here for facilities with people in jars?!" He yelled.

"Nice to see you too," I replied sarcastically, "And also, we had no idea you were booking on this boat either. We need a vacation too, goopboy."

"G-_**GOOPBOY?!**_" He scoffed, "You rude little-! Were I not in such a pleasant holiday mood, _and still without a body, _I would take my revenge on you both _**right here and now!**_"

I couldn't help but smirk.

He had _no clue _how much stronger we were now than we were then.

He merely did a motion that I assumed was supposed to be shaking his head, then turned away from us.

I then decided to scout around for any Time Pieces. Wasn't like we'd get another chance to look for any here.

And I saw a... strange looking box not too far away, set in front of a docked mafia boat. It looked rather... dark. In a very familiar way.

I walked up to the box and stared at it. The kid looked at it as well, then gave me a confused glance.

I knocked on it, and heard something clear it's throat...?

"**AHAHAHAHA! FOOOOOOOOOOOOooo- wait a minute, it's you two? **_**AGAIN?**_"

Oh. That made sense, but why in a box...?

"**Ugh... you show up in my forest, assault me, refuse to leave, and then turn up to ruin my vacation, too?**" Snatcher grumbled

"You _wish!_" The kid taunted.

"We're here for our _own _vacation," I explained.

He released an annoyed sigh.

"**You two really are the absolute worst,**" He muttered.

I chuckled.

"But anyway, what's with the box? Are you... _hiding?_" I asked tauntingly.

"_**Yes, **_**I'm hiding in a crate. Tickets are **_**expensive!**_" He spat, with emphasis on the last part as if we were toddlers.

He really must've been annoyed at us being here.

"**Now can you go irritate someone else so nobody gets suspicious about people talking to a box?!**" He hissed.

"Fine," I said, "Kid, why don't you check for Time Pieces around here?"

She nodded and did so, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well that's easy!" She shouted, then ran behind the mafia ship.

I followed her, and stopped to see... a purple time rift? Out of nowhere? Sitting right there?

"How'd _that _happen?" I grumbled, "Your ship should've detected this, right?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"It should've," She responded, "I'm gonna guess that this is either really new... or really old."

"And if it's really old..." I muttered.

"Then I need to go deal with this as soon as possible," She said, "I'd let you come in, but this is so easy to get to that someone needs to make sure nobody messes with it. You know, like normal."

I nodded.

Then suddenly, a thought snapped into my head.

"Wait, kid, don't we have two storybooks that we need to read still?" I asked.

Her eyes widened.

"That's right!" She exclaimed, "I completely forgot! We'll look at them sometime in this cruise, promise!"

She then hopped into the rift and vanished.

I merely waited, but then I saw two weird squids come out of the water. They had bandages on their heads for whatever weird reason, and menacing eyes. They looked right at me, then they... shot electric shockwaves across the ground?

Weird fauna.

But I wasn't gonna be the one to study them.

I kicked them back into the water, and they didn't come back.

The kid got back very quickly. It was quite a relief, actually, I was worrying in the back of my mind that we'd be left behind.

She waved the Time Piece and the completed storybook toward me with a grin, then I nodded and pointed toward the ramp.

She nodded rapidly, and we bolted.

We both knew that there probably wasn't much time left before the ship left.

We got to the top of the ramp, where two seals were awaiting us.

"How close are we?" I asked the seal who took our tickets.

"Pretty close, the ship leaves in a few minutes!" The seal exclaimed with their toddler-like voice as they scanned our tickets and gave them back to us, "Hurry! And sorry for the trouble you'll have getting aboard, parts of our ramp got broken when we tried to set it up, so we had to improvise."

"No problem, we're used to this," I said, then we jumped across a gap. Another jump and a bit of a wall climb, and we were at a good vantage point to finally view the ship.

It was called:

The S.S. LITERALLY CAN'T SINK.

Oh, that name did NOT sit well with me. Not at ALL.

That was practically _**BEGGING **_for disaster!

But, oh well. They had it under control. We've had to go through so much, it'd be super unlucky if something bad happened here, too.

So it wouldn't. It couldn't.

We continued ahead, jumping, swinging across seal-themed floating hooks, climbing walls, yada yada yada, and managed to get onto the ship. It seemed quite nice, I could see a bar (which I imagine Conductor probably already found), a large pool, lots of sunchairs, some tables, you know, what you'd expect to see on an outdoor pool deck.

"Welcome aboard!" A seal greeted us, with an arrow in its mouth pointing toward a door.

I heard an intercom turn on.

"Attention, this is your captain speaking... is this thing turned on?"

I chuckled at that.

The Captain cleared his throat and continued: "All passengers, please check in at the lobby desk. I'll be on board shortly."

That's probably what the arrow was for.

We followed through the door and I immediately stopped.

"Watch your step! It's a very long drop!"

There was literally nowhere to go. We were on a tiny platform with no walkways or anything, only way to go was down.

I looked over the edge, and yes, it was quite a distance.

"Might I ask why there are no stairs?" I asked the seal, "Doesn't seem like a safe or efficient way to get to the lobby."

"They got broken while we were building the ship. So we had to get rid of them," The seal answered, "But there's elevators throughout the ship, and it seems like most people don't need stairs anyway."

I nodded. At least there's an elevator, and they did have a point. Although I was hoping to not have to worry about platforming for once.

I quickly checked to make sure I had my hover badge on, then hopped over the railing, landing safely at the bottom.

I took a moment to look around.

It was a very nice garden, with even a waterfall cascading down from the top of the room. Along the walls were balconies for many rooms.

The kid landed next to me with a woosh of air, and we continued through a door. We were now on the side of the ship, and will a little bit of guidance and some running and jumping, we made it into a very nicely decorated hallway, with the entrance to the galley off to the side and blocked off by some trays.

We had to hop over a pile of some luggage, then I stopped in awe at the sight ahead.

There were four doors on each wall up ahead, and seals were rushing to and fro with trays of food, evidently too busy to notice anything around them.

We advanced and made sure to stay out of their way.

Suddenly, a jingle played throughout the ship.

"Attention, passengers... _and 'crew'..._"

The ship rumbled slightly, not enough to throw us off balance but enough to be noticeable.

"The ship is now leaving. Please try not to fall off, the arctic waters are _very _cold."

Seemed reasonable.

We walked up to the front desk, which was manned by two seals.

"Hello, sir! Hello, miss! How may we help you?" The seal on the right greeted.

"We're here to check in," I stated.

"Alright, tickets please," They responded. We handed them over, they did some typing on their computer (which was impressive given they didn't have fingers), then handed our tickets back.

"One room, I imagine?" They asked.

I looked at the kid with a questioning glance. She could handle herself, after all.

She nodded.

"Yes, please," I told the seal.

They then handed me a key. I looked at it. Room number 408.

"Enjoy your stay!" They exclaimed.

"Thank you," I said, and we walked away. I pocketed my ticket and the key.

While I did that, I saw the kid run off out of the corner of my eye.

I looked up and saw her talking to some crows.

Of course.

I joined her.

"Greetings, fellow passengers. I hope you are enjoying your journey," One crow greeted, "Do you know where this cruise is going? It was written on all of our tickets, but the writing was smudged. On all of them. It was a very unlikely accident."

Yeah, accident. Right.

"Can you remind us where we are headed?" They asked.

I actually didn't remember either.

I quickly took out my ticket and checked it over.

The city we left from was called Bergland.

Strange name, if you asked me. What, was it named after icebergs?

The city we'd arrive at was called Sinkton.

I nearly pulled my hair out.

What was with these goddamn names?!

"We'll be arriving at a city called Sinkton," I deadpanned.

"Ah, yes, Sinkton. I remember now. It actually _was _written on my ticket. I think something else was smudged on it. But, my, what an ominous name, given our current method of transportation," They rambled.

"No kidding," I grumbled, "Come on, kid, let's go find our room."

She nodded, and we walked away.

We found a hallway off to the side of the lobby with some elevators in it, I guessed that's what the seal in the garden room was talking about.

I called the elevator with the up button, and we entered.

"Can I press the button?" The kid asked, pointing toward the button labelled '4'.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Doesn't matter to me, go nuts," I said.

She grinned and happily pressed the button, then the elevator began moving.

Not long after, the elevator door opened, we walked through a hallway, and we found our room. I opened the door with the key, and we stepped inside.

A whistle escaped me.

The room looked _nice. _The furniture looked _very _luxurious, there was a _big _TV mounted to the wall, a small kitchen with your various new, smart, high-tech kitchen appliances, and a small hallway with a three doors in it. Also, there were some fancy-looking sliding doors on the opposite wall from the entrance. I opened it, leading to our balcony.

Satisfied, I went back and checked out the hallway. One room was a bathroom, the other two were identical bedrooms. The beds in said bedrooms looked very, very, very comfortable.

I was in complete shock and awe.

How the _**PECK **_was Cooking Cat able to afford a ticket for _herself, _let alone buy two tickets for us without batting an eye?!

I'd have to ask her when we found her.

I turned to the kid, who seemed just as awestruck as I was.

"How much you think those tickets cost, kid?" I asked her jokingly.

"Over 9000 pons!" She exclaimed, causing me to chuckle.

"We're gonna have to find a way to thank Cooking Cat for this," I told her, and she nodded very rapidly.

"Let's go find her right now!" She shouted, "She'll probably be near the kitchen, right?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," I agreed, "Let's go, then."

She nodded, dropped her luggage, and ran out the door. I did the same, closing and locking the door behind us.

We took the elevator down to the lobby. Thanks to some haphazardly piled luggage, we were able to easily get to the second floor of the lobby, and was about to walk through a door.

"You feelin' lucky, punk?" A moon penguin asked.

"Wha?" I mumbled.

The penguin chuckled.

"That's the casino ahead. Thought I'd do a little bit of a classic movie quote, guess you're not very movie savvy, are ya?" They taunted jokingly.

"Not here, no," I muttered, "Never had a chance to do any real movie watching."

I walked into the casino, and... wow.

The walls were giant aquariums... it was magnitudes more interesting than the casino itself!

I mean, gambling disgusted me. It was all a giant scam, through and through. And it ruined so many lives...

I shook my head. Wasn't gonna get into a mental rant, not right now.

But ahead, on a giant monitor, it showed a jackpot of _**FIVE MILLION **_pons.

Good freaking lord.

But, again, we definitely weren't here to gamble.

I saw the kid climbing up onto the rafters and followed her.

Atop the casino, it seemed like one way led to the helm of the ship, and the other way led to the garden... which was a dead end.

We both seemed to have the same idea, as the kid ran off toward the helm. Obviously, I tagged along.

And through a small corridor, we found ourselves in the rafters of the large dining room...

And all the way at the bottom I could see tables veering left and right... did they forget to tether them down?

Oh well. As long as nobody ended up getting hurt. Cause as they say, live and learn.

I looked around from the rafters and sure enough, Cooking Cat was sat at a table with... what seemed to be a camera crew?

"Hey, kid. Come check this out," I said, pointing down at Cooking Cat.

"Oh!" She shouted, "Cool! Let's go say hi!"

She stepped off, but I grabbed her by the wrist.

"Not so fast. They're in the middle of something, obviously. I mean this as nicely as possible, but if you just butt in you'll probably ruin a recording," I countered, "We can go down and watch, but wait until they're done before saying hello."

"... Okay," She said.

So, we hopped down as quietly as possible and watched from a little ways away.

I couldn't hear what she was saying, but it seemed like she was talking about the quality of the food on the ship? Cause she did have a plate of food with her.

We just sat and watched.

Until, maybe about 10 minutes later, they seemed to finish and the camera crew went away.

I turned to the kid, who smiled and ran ahead to greet her.

I chuckled and walked up to them. She seemed happy to see us.

"Oh! Hello, dears! Glad to see you made it!" She greeted happily.

"You too," I replied. The kid looked up at her with a wide grin.

"How are you enjoying the cruise so far?" She asked.

"It's _amazing!_" The kid shouted.

I chuckled. Always full of energy,

"It does seem like a really nice place," I said, "And, really, thank you for inviting us here. I couldn't even begin to imagine how much that would've cost you."

She laughed.

"Oh, it was nothing, dear. Money doesn't bring anyone happiness, anyway," She said, "You two needed a break. That's all!"

"If you say so," I muttered, "But anyway, you have a TV show?"

She perked up at that.

"Oh! Yes, I do! A cooking show! How else do you think I was able to afford those tickets?" She laughed, "But for once, I thought instead of being the chef, I'd be the customer and review some of the dishes on this ship."

I nodded. It made sense.

"My show is quite popular with other cats, especially in that city with the flashy underground metro system," She explained proudly, "Have you been there, yet? It's quite something, but you'd have to be careful with, ehh... someone."

"We know," I responded blankly, "We learned that the hard way."

"Oh, dear..." She muttered, "You two really do deserve a vacation, then."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"We're not _completely _here to relax, though. Don't get me wrong, that's our main reason for being here, but we're still looking for our hourglass things," I told her, "Have you seen any?"

"Oh, the Time Pieces? Yeah, I think there are a few here," She answered, causing me to freeze and the kid to gasp slightly.

"You know about them?" I asked.

"I overheard a lot of Mafia talk recently. They know a lot more than you think, dear," She explained, "But I realized that they were probably really important for you not to explain them, being able to rewind time and all that, so I thought I wouldn't press on the issue."

Hmmm...

It checked out.

"Alrighty then," I said.

"If you're having trouble finding them, you could always ask the front desk," She suggested.

"Right..." I muttered, "Well, thanks again."

"Anytime, dear," She replied.

We walked away, and the kid grinned from ear to ear.

"Well... should we go talk to the seals at the front desk?" I asked her.

She nodded and ran off instantly.

Before running after her for the infinitieth time, I stopped and took a deep breath.

Hadn't even been a day and I was already feeling rather relaxed...

Perhaps this was a better idea than I anticipated.

I smirked and ran off, shouting for her to wait for me.


	61. Chapter 60: Insert Ship Pun Here

Chapter 60: *Insert Ship Pun Here*

**A/N: Well, well, well. Chapter number 60. Just keeps going on and on, doesn't it?**

**Sorry for the slight delay again. The Arctic Cruise is a royal pain to write about, as I can't really find any in-depth videos about it on YouTube (which is what I normally do to write). So I often have to load the game itself and go into the level itself to make sure I'm remembering something correctly, which would be annoying enough if it didn't take an eternity to load.**

**But anyway, there's about 5-7 more chapters left for this story. After that, I'm not quite sure what I'll work on next, but it'll probably be a while before I begin working on the sequel, as I have older stories I need to finish first across multiple fandoms. Such is life.**

**(Also, that chapter name is intentional. Not a mistake :P)**

I caught up with the kid and we made it to the front desk soon after.

I walked up to the front desk and waited for the seals to notice me, and the one on the right did.

"Hi! How can I help you?" They greeted in their toddler-like voice.

"Uh... I'm looking for these hourglasses, they're filled with glowing sand and have these designs on them," I explained, "They're part of my collection, and I managed to lose a few of them. Silly mistake."

Wasn't _my _property, but hey, it'd be more believable if the adult did the talking.

"Oh, you're looking for something that looks like this?" They asked, holding up a very crude drawing of a Time Piece.

"Yep," I confirmed.

They adopted a thoughtful look.

"Hmm... where have I seen that?" They muttered, "Thinking _very hard..._"

I heard a crashing noise behind me.

Upon turning around, I saw that a pile of luggage that was sitting there earlier had fallen over, and there was an object in the center.

A busted Time Piece.

And most of the pieces were nowhere to be found.

_What fun._

"Oh, I remember! We broke one of those and hid it from the captain! He wouldn't be very happy if he knew we made a mess," The seal explained calmly, "We tried to clean it up, but... um... hm... we didn't do a very good job, and we lost some of the pieces."

_Just... __**wonderful.**_

Finding the shards in this place would be a goddamn nightmare.

"I'm very sorry, sir! Please don't be upset!" The seal apologized profusely.

I must not have been containing my irritation very well.

I sighed.

"I guess you did your best," I muttered, "Do you have any idea where some of the pieces might be?"

"We lost them all over the ship. There's probably one in each room... except the suites. Good luck!" They said happily.

I nodded, and we walked over to the Time Piece.

The kid knelt down to it and examined it.

"Really weird how this has happened twice," She muttered, "I thought this was supposed to be, like, super rare! Annoying..."

"At least we know where to look," I countered.

"It's still not gonna be easy," She responded, "But I guess we have a good reason to explore the ship now. Should we split up?"

"It _would _be faster, but if we're exploring the ship we should probably do it together," I answered.

She nodded, then pocketed the busted Time Piece.

"Let's start looking," I said, then looked around.

I spotted one in a vent, behind a busted, unmoving fan.

"Found one," I stated, pointing up at the shard, "It's up there. But maybe use your Time Stop Hat _just in case_ it suddenly turns on while you're in there."

She giggled, then looked where I was pointing, donned her Time Stop hat, hopped across some luggage and whatnot, then in the blink of an eye she was back and holding the piece.

"Nice," I said, "Let's go back to the casino and dining room and see if maybe we missed something."

She nodded, and we got a move on.

Stepping into the casino, I looked around for anything glass, or anything shiny.

I didn't see any pieces, but I did see a slot machine that was looking rather funny.

I walked up to it and examined it closely. It gave off a very faint feeling, but one I knew all too well.

"I think we found one," I thought aloud.

I read all the writing on the slot machine. Apparently, it took casino chips instead of pons? I wasn't sure if that was normal or just a strange custom of this particular casino... but then again I didn't really care.

I looked around for some casino chips, and sure enough there was a pile of them being left unsupervised.

I wasn't typically one for theft, but I wasn't gonna do any gambling myself. Peck no.

I grabbed just enough chips to use the slot machine once, and it ejected a shard in a cloud of smoke.

I picked it up with a smirk.

"Guess it was lodged in there somehow," I assumed, tossing the piece to the kid.

She started hopping up to the rafters and I followed her. At the top, I noticed that there was a piece stuck inside of a broken pipe dripping water. I guessed that the kid saw it as well, because she ran up to it and snatched it.

"How's it going, dude? Don't think we met before," A stereotypical surfer-like voice greeted beside me.

I turned to see who was there, and it took nearly all my willpower not to cringe or anything.

It was a... humanoid fish? It looked exactly like a fish, but it had legs instead of tail fins and arms instead of dorsal fins.

Good lord.

"Uh... good, and yeah, we haven't," I responded, hiding my confusion. It'd be rude, after all.

"Well, cool to meet you!" They greeted.

"You too," I said, "How's it going for you?"

"Oh, this place is radical, man! For once a vacation that isn't fishy!" They exclaimed.

I smirked at the irony.

"Yeah, this place is great," I agreed.

"I've been seeing some weird glass around here, though. Not sure what that's about," They muttered.

"Oh, yeah. The crew broke something that belonged to me and lost the pieces of it. Fun. So, if you find any pieces, please give them to me so I can hopefully put it back together," I explained.

"Oh... it belongs to you? Well... cool, I guess. Pretty gnarly picking that stuff up with your bare hands, though," They muttered awkwardly.

"It's not as sharp as it looks," I muttered, then looked ahead to see the kid waiting impatiently ahead. "I gotta go."

"Alright, catch ya later, dude," They said.

I nodded then quickly caught up to the kid, and we hopped down to the dining area.

Looking around, I saw a disgruntled Mafia Goon sat at a table clenching his jaw, and he was emanating the ever-so-familiar, yet faint aura of a Time Piece.

I cringed as a thought entered my mind:

He didn't ingest it, did he? He couldn't be _that _stupid, could he?

"Oh, god, no," I whispered, "Please, no."

I gulped and approached the Mafia Goon as if nothing was wrong.

"Hey! You!" He shouted.

"Yes?" I answered.

He plonked down a plate of food onto the table, and it turned out that the _food _was emanating the aura, not the goon himself.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Mafia bit down on something hard in this food! Punk should take it back to kitchen... please!" He begged.

I raised an eyebrow, surprised at the goon asking nicely.

"Alright," I muttered, picking up the plate of food and wandering into the nearby kitchen.

When I stepped inside, I nearly dropped the plate onto the floor.

It was a _**DISASTER!**_

Large pools of grease on the floor, ovens being blasted open by _**JETS OF FLAME...**_

Didn't exactly seem very safe!

But... it did seem like the seals had everything under control.

I made room to plonk down the dish onto the counter, then examined through the food. Underneath a leaf of lettuce, yep, there was a shard of the Time Piece.

I took it, then dumped the meal into the garbage and put the plate in the sink.

I turned to give it to the kid, but she wasn't standing behind me, like I'd expected.

"Over here!" She shouted.

I turned to see her standing on top of a pastry cart waving a shard.

I made my way over to her, being careful of the jets of flame and pools of grease, and handed her the shard I found as well.

"So that's... five so far?" She said.

"Yep," I said, "Judging by the size of them, I think we're about halfway done."

She nodded, then hopped backward and out of my sight.

I ran over to the side-yes, nearly slipping and falling multiple times-, and looked down to see her running down some stairs into a laundry room.

I quickly wiped the grease off of my shoes and ran down after her.

There were laundry carts zooming from left to right as the ship yawed back and forth, yet another hazard on this ship.

I saw the kid examining a washing machine with its top open, it seemed to be emanating the same aura.

"Someone started this cycle without soap! We need to go grab soap!" She shrieked.

"What we need to do is stop the machine and get the shard out of there," I muttered.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! We will! But let's go get soap!" She shouted, running off.

I merely shut off the machine and fumbled around for the shard. I felt something hard and glass-like, and pulled it out. Sure enough, shard number six acquired.

The kid came back with a carton of soap and dumped the whole thing into the machine before starting it again.

"You didn't need to put _that_ much in there, kiddo," I told her as I gave her the shard I found.

"Bah! They have, like, a bottomless supply of soap, whatever!" She pouted.

"Well, if you say so," I muttered.

I then looked around for somewhere to go next, spying a vent in the wall not far away.

"Alright, I think we know where to go next," I thought aloud, then climbed up to the vent and crawled through.

On the other side must've been the engine room... and it seemed like the most dangerous room yet.

Random arcs of electricity whizzing around. The bottom of the room was covered in what I presumed to be motor oil, and there were large pistons pumping up and down along the walls and in front of us.

Oddly enough, the pistons along the walls were being pushed and pulled by tentacles.

I was about to turn around and head back through the vent, but a certain glint caught my eye.

There was a shard stuck on top of one of the stupid pistons!

How'd it get _there?!_

"I'm beginning to think they scattered these shards on purpose," I grumbled.

"Allow me," The kid said sophisticatedly and smugly, then effortlessly hopped onto a piston, then to the next and the next to grab the shard.

She then hopped back onto another piston, then toward a wall, climbing out of sight.

With no other options, I followed her, thankfully not falling into the motor oil as I hopped toward the piston and climbed up the wall.

At the top, I saw a sight that completely floored me.

A giant squid, or octopus, or whatever, sat on top of some generator, pushing and pulling pistons, seemingly generating power.

"Watch your step there, _spark!_" It boomed enthusiastically, "It'd be real... _shocking... _if you slipped!"

Oh, the puns. Awesome.

Who doesn't love a good pun?

I looked back down at the mess of electricity and oil below.

"Yeah, definitely not the safest place around," I muttered.

"I'm _positive_ they could make it a little safer down here, but I guess that'd really _amp _up the costs!" It joked.

"I guess so," I agreed.

"...Anyway, it's nice to have some guests down here," It said appreciatively, "Most folks don't appreciate the hard work I put in to keep the mood _electric._"

"Such is life," I reasoned.

We left through the door beside us, ending up on the side of the ship, with the ocean whizzing by right beside us.

The kid blasted away a section of broken glass with a potion, then we climbed up to a higher section.

However, I wasn't exactly sure where to go next.

From there, we'd have many places to go to. Which would be the best place to go next?

I asked the kid that, and she donned her top hat and scanned with it.

She smirked then climbed up to the next level. I quickly went after her.

We climbed up to the highest level we could get to on this section of the ship, and I saw the kid kneeling down in front of a seal on its back, emanating the same temporal aura.

The seal definitely didn't seem to be enjoying itself, it had a look of pain on its face.

"I hurt myself," It cried, "Can you take me to the captain, please?"

The kid immediately picked up the seal, which weakly pointed across the ledge, over some carts careening back and forth out of control.

I put two and two together, and one thought entered my mind:

That's why keeping things tethered down on a cruise ship is so fricking important.

I sincerely hoped that by the next cruise, the crew would learn from their mistakes now and make sure they wouldn't happen again.

Anyway, inside the helm, the kid ran up to the captain's chair and set the seal down gently beside him.

"What's this? One of the crew got themselves injured again?" He grumbled.

She nodded.

"Do I look like a doctor to you, pup? _Kiss it better yourself_," He spat.

I did not like that tone of voice. Not at all.

"That seemed a bit _rude,_" I muttered.

The captain shook his head. Guess he heard me.

"I don't mean to be rude," He said, "But this ship doesn't steer itself. I can't be dealing with distractions right now."

He had a point.

"Alright," I said.

I saw the kid with a thoughtful look on her face, then she grinned and blew the seal a kiss.

Oh, right. 'Kiss it better yourself'.

I smirked.

Surprisingly, the seal got up as if nothing was wrong.

"Thank you for kissing my owchie, miss! I found this weird glass, but it's all yours!" It exclaimed gleefully, giving the shard to the kid.

She took it happily, thanked the seal, saluted the captain, and ran off through a door.

God, she just couldn't sit still, could she?

I quickly followed after her.

I saw her a little ways ahead, hopping into a vent and grabbing a shard. I quickly caught up to her, and saw her casually tossing the shard into the air.

"Careful with that," I warned.

She stopped and pocketed it.

"That's nine," She said.

"So, where haven't we looked yet?" I questioned.

Hmm...

Ah, yes.

"The pool deck and the garden room," I stated.

I heard a bit of grumbling from not far away, and looked over the ledge.

There was a door to the room beneath us, blocked off by a cart and a seal, and a disgruntled Moon Penguin standing there.

I wondered what that was about...

I hopped down.

"Sorry, I tripped on a cart and spilled some drinks here, so the bathroom is closed off for now!" The seal stated.

Oh, so...

"This is the only bathroom on this thing! I'm getting desperate here!" The Moon Penguin hissed panickedly.

I merely gave the penguin a questioning glance.

"There's a bathroom in each suite," I muttered.

"Oh... right," Was all the penguin said before booking it.

I chuckled.

After that, we got back on track and navigated back to the helm, down to the casino, and back to the garden room.

Looking around, my eyes locked instantly on a small aura projecting from a balcony.

I looked around for a way up, and formulated a path: I could hop across a few trees, land on a balcony, then swing across a floating hook to get to that shard.

But once again, the kid had already realized that and was ways ahead.

I quickly caught up to her at the balcony, and she was holding the shard.

"Ten," She said happily, "Only one left!"

Before I could respond, she hopped up and ran up a wall, out of my sight.

Weren't we supposed to be taking it easy?

I shook my head and followed after her.

With a little bit more climbing, we managed to make it back to that door way up at the top of the room, and found ourselves at the pool deck.

Taking a better look at it, it seemed like a place where I'd be hanging out a lot.

I mean, I wasn't a good swimmer, quite the opposite, but it just seemed like a nice place to relax.

But relaxing could wait.

Across the deck, near a bar, I saw a seal with the aura emanating from them. We approached them, and they turned to us.

"H-hello!" They greeted anxiously, "I need to get all these glasses, but I dropped them. Can you help me, sir and miss?"

"Of course!" The kid said happily.

"I'll handle this," I said, walking away.

Then suddenly...

"Egg"

... what?

I turned around and saw a seal lying on the ground, holding an egg.

"Egg," They said in a monotone voice.

As weird as it was, it seemed... oddly familiar? Although I found it hard to believe I ever saw a seal saying "Egg" where I came from, unless in some video.

I shook my head. Getting sidetracked by a stupid egg.

I climbed up to the second level and looked around for any empty glasses around.

I only saw three trays of glasses on three tables. None on the floor, none on the lower level, just those three.

I picked one tray up in my left hand, another in my right hand, but I wasn't sure what to do about the last one.

"You look like you're in a pickle," The Express Owl sat at the table muttered, "Here, let me help you with that."

They picked up the plate and set it down on my head.

Now, because my head was rather flat, it didnt fall off immediately.

"Thanks..." I said.

Carefully, I navigated back down to the bottom level and walked over to the bar, carefully setting down the trays of glasses.

Guess what the bar was called?

'On The Rocks'. I kid you not.

Like, I knew 'on the rocks' meant something with alcohol, but you know what else could be on the rocks?

I shook my head. Pessimism, I didn't need it right now.

"Wow!" The seal shouted, "You should join us!"

I chuckled at the joke.

"Maybe I should," I joked back.

"But, thank you for helping, sir! There was this weird glass piece at the bar earlier, but you can have it," They said, handing me the last shard.

I nodded, and handed it to the kid.

"Hey, get me a Sinkin' Ship, on the rocks," A certain scottish accent ordered, "And make the good part a double!"

I looked over to see Conductor (who else would it be) sitting there, looking at a seal, who I guessed was the bartender (although I wouldn't trust a toddler with alcohol.)

A little while later, and he had a drink in his hand.

"Well, you weren't kidding about the bar part, were you, Conductor?" I said.

He whipped his head around suddenly.

"Oh, I didn't see ye there, laddie. And lassie," He greeted, "Out roamin', are we?"

"You could say that," I muttered.

"Sit down, lad. Let me buy ye a round," He stated.

How courteous of him...

However, I was pretty sure I never drank alcohol back at my old world, so I didn't exactly feel like starting then.

"Thank you, Conductor, but I think I'll pass," I turned down.

"Eh, suit yourself," He said, taking a swig of his drink.

"What about me?" The kid asked with a wink.

Oh, always the joker.

"If _yer _after a drink, lassie, I think they might have some wee bottles o' juice," He suggested, "Yer a capable one, sure, but what I'm havin' is nae for young lasses."

She giggled, then grabbed my sleeve and ran away, pulling me along with her.

She took me to a corner and pulled out all the shards and the remnants of the Time Piece. After a tiny light show, it was back together.

"Good as new," I said.

She put it away, then looked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"What do we do now?" She asked.

I smirked.

"Well, I know what _I'm_ doing," I said, "You go do whatever you want... as long as you don't mess with the crew or captain."

She frowned.

"I would _never!_" She scoffed sarcastically.

"Mhm, suuuuuuuuure," I responded just as sarcastically.

I then walked over to one of the longer chair-whatever they're called-, laid down in one, and closed my eyes.

Two Time Pieces secured already. With how small this ship was, I doubted there'd be many anyway.

It was time to _truly_ relax.


	62. Chapter 61: Comedian

Chapter 61: Comedian

I did nothing but lay down for awhile. Not sure exactly for how long, maybe like half an hour.

It was nice, though. No worries. No real responsibilities.

It all came crashing down abruptly when I felt a torrent of cold water come crashing down into my person.

My eyes snapped open instantly and I shot up and out of the chair, hearing a giggling behind me.

I whipped around and saw the kid standing there, holding an empty bucket.

I shot her an unamused glance.

"Real funny, kid," I muttered.

She giggled.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" She taunted.

"Yeah, yeah, whoop de doo," I joked, "Anyway, what time is it?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"I dunno, kinda late? About supper time, maybe?" She guessed.

"Then I should go get changed, then we can go head down to grab something to eat," I suggested, "Don't wanna go to supper a soaked mess, after all. Thanks to a _certain nuisance_ I have to put up with."

She giggled, then ran off.

After that, just like I said, we returned to the room. I got into some dry clothes, then we went to the dining room and got seated.

I was honestly a bit skeptical about what the quality of the food on this crazy boat would be like.

I mean, I saw firsthand the _mess_ that was their kitchen. How would they make any sort of food in _that _chaos?

But anyway, the waiter came to take our order. I ordered calamari.

"What's that?" The kid asked afterward.

"Cooked squid rings and tentacles," I responded.

She seemed grossed out.

"Bleh," She said, "Sounds gross."

I chuckled at the irony.

"That's funny given what you've got in your fridge, kid," I responded, "Purple burgers? Spaghetti with _eyeballs?_"

"Okay, I didn't put those in there!" She pouted.

After that, she ordered pizza. Nothing wrong with that.

The waiter ran off, and we began waiting.

The kid got bored quickly, as there was nothing for her to do. No colouring books, no games, no nothing.

I looked around for something to maybe entertain her, as an unhappy kid certainly didn't make me happy, but there was absolutely nothing to do.

I had one other idea for what to do though.

I looked at the kid and smirked.

What better than a good old-fashioned pun to liven things up?

"Hey, kid, did you know I entered a pun contest once?" I asked.

"Huh?" She muttered, "What do you mean?"

"It was a little newspaper contest where people could each submit a pun for review, and the winner would get their pun displayed in the newspaper. I wanted to win so badly that I submitted ten puns for it!" I exclaimed.

"Well... did you?" She asked.

"Sadly, even with my efforts to win, no pun in ten did," I said with a grin.

She seemed confused for half a second, then a look of realization hit her and she began laughing.

"'No pun in ten did!' That's amazing!" She exclaimed between fits of laughter.

Mission accomplished. I have achieved comedy.

But it didn't last long, because suddenly...

"**Oh? So the brat **_**can **_**sit still for longer than 5 seconds?!** _**This is beyond science!**_"

Oh. Right. Snatcher was on board.

That ever so annoying voice sounded like it came from the ground beside us.

Sure enough, there was a familiar golden grin coming out of the wall in the shadows beside us.

"Hm, I'd forgottten you were here," I said.

"**You wish you could forget me, punk,**" He retorted.

"Rich coming from you," I snickered, "Ah, I still remember when you _begged _us to leave, and now you're coming right to us!"

The kid snickered as his eye twitched.

"**Hey, come on now! I'm just paying my contractually obligated friends a visit! What's wrong with that?**" He laughed, "**Unless you want to **_**end **_**that contract! **_**HAHAHAHA!**_"

... Well, how the tables have turned.

Now _HE _was pestering _US!_

The thought made me chuckle.

"Fair play," I admitted, "But why exactly does a ghost need a vacation anyway? Who's watching over your forest?"

"**None of your business!**" He taunted, "**But if you're **_**oh, so intrigued, **_**not many people have been coming to my forest as of late. It was getting boring with no one to horrify! So, I decided, instead of waiting for them to come to **_**me, **_**why don't I go out and **_**find **_**people to torment? And what better place to do it than on a cruise ship?**"

"Hm, you have a point," I said, "If you keep at it, rumours will probably start circulating that this ship is haunted."

"**Now you're thinking my way!**" He exclaimed, "**But it's **_**MY **_**way of thinking, so get your own!**"

I laughed. What a comedian.

I then heard a clinking behind us, and looked over my shoulder to see the waiter coming with our food.

"**That's my cue! Later!**" The ghost shouted before disappearing from the wall.

I shook my head.

"What a weird guy," I muttered.

Anyway, our food came, so we dug in.

I braced for it to be terrible. Raw, or messy, or burned, or whatever, I expected something completely inedible.

But... it might've been the best thing I'd ever tasted.

I'd go into detail about what was so great about it, but frankly I'm not even sure where to begin. It was perfection.

And the kid seemed to enjoy her meal as well.

Once we were done, I smirked at her.

"Well, colour me impressed," I said, "I was expecting the worst, given the state of their kitchen, but I guess they have it all under control, don't they?"

"Definitely," She agreed with a nod.

"I say let's head back to the room and watch some television for the rest of the day," I suggested.

"Awesome," She said.

With that, we headed back to our suite.

When we got there, I plonked myself down on the couch and grabbed the remote, then turned on the television and looked for something for us to watch.

I looked for a good long while.

On most channels were either news, infomercials, strange 'comedies' that neither of us understood the humour in, or other random stuff.

However, looking through the guide, I found one thing that looked interesting.

A movie named "To The Stars". It would be beginning shortly.

"That sounds like DJ Grooves' style to me," I thought aloud, "It's probably one of his weird, funky musical thingies that we saw him recording."

"Let's watch it!" The kid exclaimed, "If they're showing it, it must be good, right? Maybe it's the movie that won him award 42!"

"Alright," I muttered, then selected the channel and put down the remote.

It began.

Obviously, I won't narrate the full movie. Come on, now, that'd take forever. Instead, I'll give the basic rundown of what happened in the movie.

It... definitely wasn't like DJ Grooves' _other _movies.

DJ Grooves' other movies didn't really have plot, it was basically just fun. Happy fun times for everyone (except the actors).

This... was the exact opposite.

Essentially, it takes place on another planet, inhabited by penguins, but not just any penguins; penguins that liked to party and had super flashy technology. The penguins were celebrating a recent advancement in spacecraft technology and launched a signal, well, 'to the stars', to search for other lifeforms in the universe and perhaps communicate with them.

After awhile... they recieved a response.

But it wasn't a hospitable response.

They were attacked by a fleet of alien spaceships, and were only able to bring down a single one with all of their might. The rest of the ships left after wreaking havoc across the planet and causing panic.

But in the wreck of the ship they crashed, the penguins found out that they planned to return. And to completely dismantle the planet for resources, and to take any survivors prisoner.

So with what little time they had left, they had to rally the people for one final stand against the aliens, to save their humble planet.

...

That's probably oversimplifying the plot, but you get the gist of it. If you've ever heard of the movie 'Judgement Day', it was a bit similar to that. Not _very _similar, though.

But regardless, it was absolutely stellar. Would watch again.

Once the movie was over, I looked over at the kid. She'd been quiet for awhile.

And she looked just about ready to collapse.

"Well, you look just bright and full of energy," I joked.

She chuckled and nodded sleepily.

"Let's get you to bed, kiddo," I said.

With that, I tucked her into bed, took her hat off and placed it on the nightstand, shut off the lights, and wished her a good night before turning to the door.

"You're awesome," She muttered groggily, quietly enough that I only barely heard it.

It brought a smile to my face.

"Only because you are, kid," I responded, but she was already asleep.

I exited the room, then headed for bed myself.

When I hopped into the bed, I realized that, yes, it was as comfortable as it looked, and yes, I'd finally grown tired of sleeping in a hammock _every single night._

And lastly, yes. Coming to this cruise was absolutely the best idea we'd ever had.

...

I found myself in another 'dreamscape'. But I knew it wasn't a dream, it felt exactly like it did when I met that boy with the tie.

This time, my vision wasn't impaired. I could see clearly, and found myself back in Alpine Skyline.

I wasn't sure why I was brought back here, so I looked around for anything of interest.

I didn't find anything for awhile, until I saw something from afar.

Off in the distance, I saw another boy, probably around the same age as the tie'd one, wearing a cowboy hat and holding a crowbar, talking to... the kid?

Huh?

That purple hat, yellow cape, big zipper, and brown hair were unmistakeable. It had to be her, one way or another.

... Was this some sort of parallel universe?

That would be the only explanation.

However, the boy suddenly turned around and stared at me. I could sense it, he was staring _at _me, he knew I was there. And he adopted a look of skepticism and or suspicion.

I sensed something strange about him, but I couldn't tell what it was.

I felt the vision falter, and not long after I woke up. It was the middle of the night.

"Well, that was certainly odd," I muttered, "Perhaps I'll have to find a way to talk to that kid sometime."

Seeing how late it was, I decided there was no good reason to get up, and fell back asleep.

**A/N: Well, as you can see, I did another little thing. This time, with Fighter33000's 'A New Chance', and its protagonist, Arthur.**

**I would've had a conversation between the two characters, but I didn't want to risk anything in the conversation possibly messing with the intended progression of the story. So instead, I just did that.**

**Next chapter, well, you know what's happening next chapter.**

**Gonna whip this ship into shape.**


	63. Chapter 62: Adrift In Time

Chapter 62: Adrift In Time

**A/N: Bah. Writing about this dumb boat ride really is annoying. Can't wait till it's over. **

**(and if you're wondering, yes, that's why this chapter took so long to get out.)**

**Frankly, it's just not fun. I'm limited by my poor knowledge of this portion of the game which means I need to double check everything to make sure I didn't screw something up. It's beyond tedious. I had the same problem with Alpine Skyline but it's worse here.**

**Such is life, I guess.**

Next morning, I woke up feeling ready to go. Honestly though, I was a _bit _confused about where I was for half a second, but hey, I'd just woken up!

Anyway, I got up and quickly realized that the kid was still sleeping. With nothing to do, I just decided to watch television until she did.

It was only a few minutes before she did, what great timing. To start off the day, we headed down to the dining area to get some breakfast.

I had french toast. The kid had pancakes.

Dare I say it might've been the best french toast I'd ever had.

One thing I noticed...

Everyone was at the dining area to have some breakfast. Peck, even Snatcher was there.

One person was missing, though.

Conductor.

... Was he hungover or something?

I mentioned Conductor's failure to show up to the kid, who decided that we should go look for him.

And so we did.

... It didn't take us long to find him.

He was at the bar again, sat in the exact same chair, except this time... well...

He seemed absolutely hammered.

So early in the day, too...

"Uhh..." The kid said.

He turned around and nearly fell out of his seat, laughing and hiccuping.

"Oh, hello, lass! Ye too, lad!" He exlaimed, with the typical drunken slur, "A-ar-are the two o' ye havin' a good holiday? I know I am!"

What a mess...

"Ah, no Grooves, no movies, just me and my good ol' friend right here!" He said, holding his glass upward as he said the last part.

"I wonder what the rest o' the boat is like?"

What the f-

Did he spend the _entire damn night _at this bar?

Was he going to spend the _**ENTIRE CRUISE **_drunk?

"Conductor, don't you think that's a bit much?" I asked, "You can hardly talk."

"Eh, so wha'?," He scoffed, "What, is it gonna _kill me? _'M I gonna-"

"Uh, actually, yeah, that's exactly what it'll do. Ever heard of 'alcohol poisoning'?" I interrupted.

"Oh, 's tha' so? Then'll die happily! Lemme the peck alone!" He grumbled, "Besides, ah've been doin' this fo' years. Hasn't killed me yet, ain't gonna kill me now!"

I shook my head. Stubborn fool.

"Still not healthy... maybe you just need to find a hobby?" I asked, "There's plenty of things to do on this ship that won't completely wreck your mind and body."

"This _is _me hobby, ah don't need a new one," He replied.

"No, that's an addiction. You're drunk. Seriously. Just find something you're passionate about and do it," I told him, "It'll do wonders for you. You don't have to do it right now, but do it sometime."

He was silent.

"_Fiiiiiine, _lad. I'll try," He grumbled, "But not today. Leave me be, peck neck."

Didn't seem like I'd be getting anything more out of him, so we took our leave.

I decided that I wanted to return to the suite and just watch television for a bit. I told the kid that she could go do something else if she wanted to, but she tagged along.

Back in the suite, I sat down and turned on the television. I switched to a channel, which was showing a nature documentary, and began watching it.

After a little while, I noticed that there was a weird noise.

Confused, I turned off the TV, but the noise persisted. So it wasn't the TV.

It sounded like it was coming from the balcony?

I opened the sliding door to the balcony...

And was met with a blue Time Rift.

Welp.

"Hey, kid!" I shouted behind me, "Might wanna come see this!"

She came out from the hallway holding that book of hers and looking very confused.

I stepped out of the way so she could see it, and she smirked.

"Wow!" She exclaimed, "That couldn't be in a better spot!"

"Want me to stay?" I asked.

She adopted a thoughtful look, then a mischevious grin.

"Actually, I want you to go in!" She shouted.

That didn't seem good...

"By _myself?_" I questioned.

She nodded rapidly.

"Uh... what do you expect me to do when I get the Time Piece?" I asked, "I'll be stuck there forever without you to get us out of there."

"Relax!" She said, "If you take too long I'll go in and find you! You'll have to learn to do this sometime anyway, in case something happens in the future!"

"But do I really need to do it right _now?_" I complained.

"The sooner the better," She responded.

I fumed.

This was going to end poorly. I could feel it.

I turned to the Time Rift shaking my head.

"The things I do for you, kid..." I grumbled, "Well, here goes."

I touched the swirling blue orb, and everything seemed to freeze. A blinding flash of light later, and I found myself in adrift in the sea of time (oddly poetic), standing on a gear.

Well, a gear-shaped piece of whatever the platforms in this place were made of. Not so poetic.

I advanced forward, quickly noticing a green gear up ahead. Good thing I had my charm on me always.

I continued my advance, swinging across a gap and climbing up a wall, and I noticed...

Well.

I'd have to do a lot of sliding. There were walls blocking me from just walking ahead, the only way I'd get under them would be to slide under them, and of course the paths ahead were tilted diagonally downward, so I'd go careening ahead like a missile.

And there was a sawblade at the end of the first slide.

"Well that's a _great _sign of things to come," I muttered sarcastically.

I sighed and dove under the first wall, quickly stopping myself before I could get sawed into two.

The next slide was different, though, instead of being white and blue it was white and red.

Red = bad. Always.

Also, I'd have to jump at the end of the slide to make it to the next one.

"Here goes."

I dove onto the slide again, and heard rumbling behind me as I did so. It was distracting enough that I almost forgot to jump and almost tumbled into the void.

Securely on the platform, I looked back to where I came from and saw that the slide had disappeared behind me.

"Huh. Fancy that," I grumbled.

Oh, and guess what the next slide had?

It was all red, and had sawblades along the center! Oh and it was curved, too. At the end was a hookshot clamp.

I'd have to _steer myself _so that I wouldn't lose a limb or fall into the void!

"Are _all _of the Time Rifts this dangerous?" I asked myself, "Or did I just manage to get 'lucky'?"

I shook my head and dove forward. Thankfully, I remained in one piece and swung across the gap ahead, onto a large gear platform.

It was interlocked with two other gears, and they were spinning. Oh and a bunch of the weird small birds were roaming around on them, some of them were ignited, too.

I just evaded them and climbed up onto a platform, then latched onto a zipline that was awaiting me.

I saw the Time Piece looming in the distance and smiled, thinking my job was done.

Haha... nope.

I hopped across some red platforms then onto a large gear, then onto a green gear and latched onto a hook which raised upward and brought me to the next platform.

I then found myself at another slide, which I slid down.

However, there was a gap in the slide accompanied by some green. I barely managed to activate my charm in time, then dove back onto the slide once again, sliding right into a springboard, which launched me into another elevating hookshot clamp.

I then found myself at a path... which was periodically being blasted with flamethrowers.

"Is this a goddamn joke?!" I hissed.

I waited for the flamethrowers to pass over the platform then ran as fast as I possibly could.

I could feel the heat on my back as I made it to the other side, and looking behind me, I reasoned that I'd dodged the last flamethrower by mere inches.

"She'd better appreciate this."

I pushed onward.

I stopped at-you guessed it-another slide.

Except this one was being blasted with flamethrowers, too!

And it stretched so far I couldn't even see all of what was ahead.

With an exasperated groan, I waited for my chance and dove.

I zoomed past the flamethrowers, barely managed to veer out of the way of a sawblade which was somehow defying physics and zooming back and forth, zoomed to the right as the slide split in two, then finally clamped onto a hookshot and jumped across a gap.

All that remained was some simple platforming, then a final zipline that took me straight to the Time Piece.

I grabbed it with a relieved sigh.

"Thank God that's over with," I grumbled.

...

Wait...

How would I get out of here?

Err...

I suppose I'd try to do what the kid did...?

I raised the Time Piece to the sky and closed my eyes, imitating what I saw the kid do earlier.

Nothing seemed to happen...?

Unless I needed to focus...?

I focused and willed the Time Rift to close and for me to leave it.

I heard a weird noise, then...

My feet met air.

With nothing to support me, I fell and faceplanted painfully.

I heard an excited squeal and clapping.

Looking up, I saw the kid waiting for me, over the moon.

I stared at her.

"You would not believe what was in there," I grumbled.

"What was in there?" She asked.

"It was a series of slides," I muttered.

That seemed to pique her interest.

"Really?! That sounded so fun! Aww, I wish I went instead!" She pouted, snatching the Time Piece.

"They weren't exactly safe, though," I stated, "Sawblades, flamethrowers, risk of falling into a bottomless pit forever, not exactly the best spot to go for a slide."

"Well you look fine to me!" She said with a mischevious smirk, "And you figured out how to seal the rift, which is why I sent you in there in the first place!'

I rested my head on the ground and groaned.

"Regardless, you're coming with me next time. End of story," I grumbled.

"Mhm," She responded, "Anyway, I'm bored. Let's go look for another Time Piece."

"Ugh, fine," I muttered, getting up.

So, we left and went to the lobby, and...

It was in the lost and found...? Behind the desk, there was a box labelled 'Found Lost Lots of Stuff!', except the 'Lost' was scribbled out.

"Well, that was easy," I muttered.

I walked up to the lobby.

"Hi, sir! How can I help you?" The seal on the left greeted.

I quickly explained that there was an object in the lost and found that belonged to us.

"Oh, you want something from the lost and found?" They asked, and I nodded.

They adopted a thoughtful look.

"Hmm... the captain lets us pick something from the lost and found if we work _very hard._ Maybe you can help out!" They exclaimed, "You'd have to ask him very nicely, though."

"But... the hourglass belongs to us..." I muttered.

"Sorry, sir, that's just how it is," The seal apologized, "You can follow the mess to the helm."

I sighed in exasperation.

Always a damn string attached.

But grumbling about it wouldn't get anything done, so we went to see the captain.

In the helm, I turned to the kid.

"You ask him," I told her, "You have a very... persuasive way with people."

"Because I'm adorable, I know," She said smugly.

She ran over to the captain and quickly asked if we could take something from the lost and found in exchange for doing work.

"What's that, pup?" He asked, "You wanna help out?"

"_We_ do," She said with a nod.

"Hmph, sure," He grumbled, "Maybe something will get done around this mess of a boat for once. It'd be a first."

"What exactly will we be doing?" I asked, "Do you have anything specific in mind, or...?"

"You'll be delivering drinks, food, and some other things. And you'll have to do it quickly. Take too long and I'll make you restart your shift," He warned, "And I won't be too happy about it either. Oh, and there's also a few other jobs that'll need doing."

...

"So... we're basically doing all of the delivery and some other random stuff," I muttered.

"Yes, that's exactly what you'll be doing," He confirmed, "The seals will give you instructions on where to take things and what to do in general."

This was going to be chaos...

"Are you two ready to start?" He asked.

I looked at the kid, who nodded.

"Good. I'll let you know through the intercoms when you're done, now get to it," He ordered before turning back to the helm.

We split up to take different ends of the ship.

I'd go into detail about what exactly we had to do, but it was basically just running from point A to point B delivering items. Boring. Monotonous.

I was expecting it to be a shorter shift, because the captain said we'd have to restart if we took too long, but nope.

We were working for _hours._

When the intercom finally turned on, I took a deep sigh of relief.

"Attention, this is your captain speaking. You two can stop now. Come back to control, I guess."

We met up back at the helm and talked to the captain.

"Well, looks like you two actually cleaned up more mess than you made. That's more than most of the crew can manage," He grumbled, "Help yourselves to something from the lost and found. Nobody ever comes back for that junk anyway."

We nodded and bolted back to the lobby. The kid went and grabbed the Time Piece, and we promptly returned to our suite, with me plonking down on the sofa and turning on the TV immediately.

God, I never wanted to do that again.

Of all the 'work' we had to do on the planet, it was without a doubt the _worst. _Ironic, given it was the least dangerous work we had yet.

It just took _so long._

I was glad it was over.

But two Time Pieces in one day, couldn't complain about that.

Hopefully the rest of the trip would be as relaxed as it was earlier...

But I had a sinking feeling that it'd only get worse from here.

**A/N: Oooh, totally not blatantly obvious foreshadowing! What could possibly go wrong on this boat? Totally not sarcasm!**

**Yeah, I **_**kinda **_**skipped Ship Shape, the Time Rift was more the focus of the chapter. But let's be honest, Ship Shape is worth skipping over. I don't think anyone really likes Ship Shape. Could be wrong, but I don't think so.**

**Up next: another filler chapter. Or maybe I'd skip straight to you-know-what. I dunno. We'll see.**

**But anyway, review time.**

**Fighter33000: Just what to be expected in this absolute madhouse of a story. And I'm glad you liked the brief section with Arthur. Thanks again.**


	64. Chapter 63: Resonate

Chapter 63: Resonate

**A/N: Well... sorry for the stupidly long wait. Just over two weeks, absurd! Should be a good reason for it, eh?**

**Err... well...**

**Honestly... not really. To be frank, I was just waiting for a couple of things. Things that I probably shouldn't have postponed writing for... but that's how hindsight works. *shrugs***

**But it shouldn't happen again.**

Nothing really happened for the rest of the day. I just watched television, the kid did... well... whatever she did... it was just resting from the arduous work we just had to do.

The next day...

Well...

It wasn't quite so boring.

It started off as you'd expect it to: I woke up first, waited for the kid, then we went to go eat breakfast, blah blah blah.

But on our way back to the suite from breakfast, the kid ran ahead, and then...

"Ah, there you are!" A cheerful, feminine voice exclaimed.

I turned around to see... someone I'd definitely never saw before.

They looked like one of Snatcher's minions, except green, and wearing a hat with two ribbons falling from the sides. Their looks combined with their voice told me that they were a girl.

"Uhhh, me?" I asked.

"Yeah, you! I've been looking all over this world for you," She exclaimed.

"For what reason?" I asked again.

"You have... well, _had,_ a visitor. From another world!" She explained happily, "Just thought I should let you know."

Well that sounded oddly familiar.

"Another world, eh? Did he happen to have a tie?" I asked.

"Oh, have you met him before?" She counter-asked.

"Briefly. I visited his dimension in a dream," I responded, "I take it you ran into him while he was here?"

"Yeah, he said he was looking for you and asked if you had a name," She explained, "Oh, right, about that, _do_ you have a name?"

"I-uh..."

Err...

"I don't remember my real name," I answered, "When I first came to this universe, I lost all of my memories. Including my name. So, I adopted the name: 'Mega'. But... I don't really use that name anymore, it's kind of like a placeholder. Some people call me it, others call me whatever. So basically, call me whatever you want."

They nodded.

"Should I tell him that, if I see him again before you do?" She asked.

"I'd rather tell him myself," I replied.

"Okay. Also since you told me your name, my name is Sweetie!" She exclaimed.

"That's a very nice name," I complimented.

She seemed _even more _cheerful upon hearing that.

"Thank you!" They said, "I should probably get going though... it was nice meeting you!"

They then disappeared through a portal.

"Dammit!" I heard a voice grumble behind me, "Just barely too late."

I turned around to see the Traveller standing there, disappointed.

"Oh, hey," I greeted, "You know them?"

"I know _about _them. They started hopping universes recently, for reasons I don't know. I need to make sure they're not planning anything, because I don't want outside forces interfering with what happens here, it's not right in the multiverse," He answered.

"Makes sense," I agreed, "Shey seemed innocent to me, though, but I guess you can't be too careful, right?"

"Precisely," He muttered, "However, I saw that you'd visited another world recently. Have you been able to control your ability to at all?"

"Nope, it's still completely random," I denied, "But it'll come with time, though, right?"

He nodded.

Hmm... this topic made me think of something...

"Hold on, is that what you saw in me? The ability to travel dimensions? Is it that you wanted me to be your, like, apprentice, or sidekick?" I asked.

He tilted his head.

"Well, that wouldn't be _entirely _false," He admitted, "I did see potiential in dimension-travelling within you. But there's something _far_ greater I see in you, rather than being a simple apprentice. One that, well, you know me, I simply can't tell you right now."

"It really must be something big, then," I thought aloud.

"Oh trust me, _it is,_" He laughed, "I'll tell you this. Something massive is bound to happen. Something so insanely massive that no one could truly be able to comprehend the scope of its effects."

"What is it?" I asked.

He stared right at me.

"The universes draw closer again," He said, "The walls of the multiverse are crumbling, slowly and surely."

A chill went down my spine.

"So you mean..." I muttered.

He nodded.

"What happened an eternity ago to turn me into what I am today... is bound to happen again," He pronounced, "I do not know when it will happen... but when it does, and the walls between universes come crashing down again... your true, ultimate potential will be revealed. And the whole multiverse will resonate with it."

He then disappeared.

"...Okay, wow," Was all I could say. "What is this, a cult?" I joked with a smirk.

I then scratched my head. Why was I making jokes to myself?

"... Anyway, kid's probably waiting for me, I should get back to her," I thought aloud, then quickly got a move on.

She was waiting impatiently by the door to the suite.

"What took you so long?" She pouted.

"I, uh, got sidetracked," I muttered.

"With?" She asked.

"A certain somebody decided to talk to me again," I said.

"About?" She asked again.

... This would probably be the best time to finally tell her about the dimension hopping. Especially considering what I'd just learned.

"Err... I'll tell you once we get inside," I muttered, opening the door.

Inside, she plopped down on the couch and looked at me with a look of deep listening.

"I'll start off at the very beginning. I should've told you this the moment it happened, but too late now. During our little break in Nyakuza Metro, while I was asleep, I had a strange dream," I began, "I couldn't see my surroundings, but I could see a boy with a tie, probably about your age, in front of me. He saw me, and we talked."

She nodded.

"I won't go into detail about the conversation, it was rather short anyway. When I woke up, the Traveller spoke to me. He told me that it wasn't just a dream, he detected an anomaly in my mind while I was asleep. So I'd actually hopped dimensions in my sleep," I explained.

Her jaw dropped.

"Wha-..." She muttered.

"Yes, I was just as shocked. I didn't want to alarm you, so, regrettably, I didn't tell you about it. Note that I never _lied _to you, I would never lie to you. I just never _told you _about it," I muttered.

She frowned.

"Anyway, I also hopped dimensions again a couple nights ago. This time I could see clearly. I was in Alpine Skyline, and I saw a little boy with a crowbar talking to _you,_" I said.

"Me? In Alpine Skyline?" She asked, "But you said this was in another dimension?"

"I'm not sure either. I'm guessing it's some sort of parallel universe shenanigans. I should've asked the Traveller about that, but oh well," I muttered.

"Okay... but why are you telling me this now?" She asked.

"Oh boy..." I muttered, "Well. I'll keep this short. Today, after you ran off, a strange person talked to me. Told me that I'd had a visitor from another world, that boy I talked to in my first dream. Said he was looking for me, and even asked her for my name. After we finished talking, she left through a portal, and right after, guess who shows up?"

"The Traveller guy?" She guessed.

"Yep," I confirmed, "Said he was looking for the person I'd just talked to and was wanting to make sure she wasn't gonna be messing with anyone or anything. We talked about my dimension hopping, and then..."

I chuckled.

"Well, what he told me next... it's-... bah, I'll just tell you," I muttered, "He said that the universes are coming closer. The walls between them are getting weaker. What happened to make him is gonna happen again."

Her eyes widened.

"And that's not even the craziest part," I chuckled, "He said that when that happens, my 'true, ultimate potential' will be revealed." I was making quotatian marks with my fingers at that last part.

"That's... should I be excited or concerned?" She asked.

"Both, I say," I answered.

"But now..." She said, "Why the _**PECK **_didn't you tell me this?!"

"I... didn't want to distract you or worry you," I countered, "I thought it'd be better to leave you, uh, blissfully ignorant."

"Come on!" She pouted, "You can _jump between dimensions! _I don't care if that's bad for me to know about or not, that's way too awesome to leave me out of!"

"Yes, you are right," I muttered, "And that's why I told you now."

She scratched her head.

"Well, you did tell me in the end. I guess I can't be _too _mad," She said, "Are you gonna use this awesome new ability of yours?"

"I don't think I really have a choice, kid," I grumbled, "I have _zero _control over it. And it only works when I'm sleeping. Also, even if I _could_ control it, you are my number one priority. Visiting other worlds can wait until we're done here."

"What if I went with you?" She asked.

I frowned.

"I don't like the idea of taking you to another universe where you already exist. If the two of you met, I don't think the multiverse would like it," I reasoned.

"Hmm," She said, "I guess you're right. And it'd probably be creepy to see another me."

I chuckled.

"There's definitely that, too," I said, "I'll tell you what, though. Maybe if I do master this ability, I can take you to my homeworld. Show you around, show you what my life was like. It'd be an experience for both of us, considering I _still don't have my pecking memories!"_

"_Dahling!_" She shouted, mocking DJ Grooves, "Watch your language!"

I immediately burst out laughing, I laughed so hard there were tears in my eyes.

When I managed to get ahold of myself, I grinned at her.

"That impression wasn't half bad, kiddo," I said.

She smirked.

"I wonder what your Conductor impression would be like," She thought aloud.

No better time to find out.

"A _**myeurdurrr?! **_On _MY _Owl Express?!" I mocked, intentionally drawing out the 'myerrder'.

As expected, the kid burst out laughing, putting a smile on my face.

"Maybe just let me do the impressions," She chuckled.

"Gee, thanks," I joked.

She merely smirked again in response.

"Welp, I'm gonna go catch some sun," I stated, "Find me at the pool deck if ya need me."

"I'll come, too!" She proclaimed happily.

"Alright," I muttered, then we left.

I went to the pool deck as I said I would, with the kid tagging along, but this time I went to the upper level and just watched the ocean drift by. Also, the Captain was there, doing the same thing. Upon trying to talk to him, he just muttered that he was on his break and told us to 'let an old captain rest'. Which was fair, so we did.

But on another note... the kid wasn't really tall enough to see over the railing, so it ended up with me carrying her on my back so she could get a good view. I didn't mind, of course.

It was nice. Really.

... Would it be considered ASMR? I dunno. But it was still great.

And slowly, without even realizing, I fell into a lapse. Daydreaming, I suppose.

Until...

"Wait... is that..." The kid gasped, snapping me out of it.

"What's what?" I asked.

She pointed at an iceberg looming off in the distance, and I had to shield my eyes.

... But why would I need to shield my eyes from an iceberg?

I took a second glance at the iceberg and saw something on it, shining radiantly. It was almost like...

"Oh," I grumbled, "No, that can't be a Time Piece, can it? How would we get to it?!"

She then released a 'hmm' before hopping off and running away.

I ran after her, both out of curiosity and to make sure she didn't do anything reckless.

I followed her through the ship to the helm.

But why would we be at the helm?

"If I can steer a spaceship, I can steer a boat to get us that Time Piece!" She proudly stated.

"You _**what?!**_" I shouted, then ran up the stairs to the wheel to stop her, but...

The ship suddenly veered to the right, knocking me into the wall and causing a cacophany of noise to resonate through the ship, probably because things were crashing into the walls.

It then suddenly veered slightly to the left, causing me to slide down to the other side of the room.

"Uh-uhm-"

"Hello! The captain has a messa-"

"Hand me that microphone! _**Who's at the wheel?!**_" The captain boomed through the intercom.

"_**STOP THIS NOW!**_" I yelled over the ruckus as the ship kept randomly veering off course.

"We're headed straight for an iceberg! _**ALL HANDS ON DECK!**_"

A deep boom resonated through the ship, shaking it to its core and sending me flying.

The last thing I remember was hitting the wall before blacking out.

Kid... what have you done?

**A/N: ****One mess-up and chaos unfolds. Such is life. Not like you could stay mad at the kid anyway, right?**


	65. Chapter 64: Burial At Sea

Chapter 64: Burial At Sea

**A/N: Well! A stack of chapters! (If you don't get what I mean I'll be very disappointed.) Yeah, I never expected this story to be **_**THIS **_**long. I dunno if my chapter length has gotten shorter or if my writing has become more wordy, but something's changed, that's for sure.**

**(Also, ach, it's been a week again. But I have a good reason this time: I was busy playing Terraria: Journey's End on the new Master Mode difficulty. That's a good reason, right?)**

**But anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. I'd been waiting to use this chapter name for awhile now.**

I woke up to freezing cold. Especially in my lower body.

I looked around and found myself in the helm, except it was skewed on its side, an absolute disaster, and water was slowly leaking in.

"What the hell happened?" I asked.

A couple seconds later.

"Oh. Right," I grumbled.

But the cause of this disaster was irrelevent. What was relevent was that I was pinned in ice-cold water and needed to get out of it as my entire lower body was already feeling numb. The room was still well-lit, so there'd be no chance at all of slipping out using the shadows.

Only one option was available.

I took a deep breath, got a good grip on the rubble holding me down, and pushed with all my might, groaning from the exertion.

I had to stop. It hadn't moved at all.

I tried again. Still didn't work.

Again. And again. Still nothing.

I could only feel my chest, arms, and head now, and I could feel sleep calling.

I had to get out. Now.

One last try. I gave it my all. Literally. Every ounce of strength I could've possibly mustered, I did. I didn't think. I just acted.

And it worked. I managed to push the rubble off of me.

But it had used up my remaining energy.

All I could do was pathetically crawl away... but with the room skewed as it was I didn't get anywhere.

The urge to sleep became overwhelming.

All that... and the same outcome anyway: a burial at sea.

...

I woke up to a bright light. I felt like I hadn't slept in years. But where was I now...? And why was it so cold?

I shielded my eyes and slowly opened them, looking around. I could hardly hear, nor could I see well either. I could feel something holding me by the sweater, and I felt motion, but that was it.

I hadn't the foggiest clue as to what the frick was going on.

All I saw was a small mass of purple and yellow.

"Wha..." Was all I could mumble.

I then felt myself being set down, then being shaken, and a yelling voice.

I slowly regained my bearings.

"-ease wake up!" A high-pitched voice yelled.

The kid was standing in front of me, shaking me, with a panicked look on her face.

"Hey, kid," I muttered.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around me. All I did was put my arm around her in return, but I was too tired to react mentally.

Now that I could see clearly, I saw I was on a rowboat with her, some seals, and two Express Owls holding oars. The ship was looming in the background, turned on its side. Judging by all the ice around, we'd crashed into a huge iceberg.

And, again, I remembered what happened.

"Wow, what a disaster," I grumbled, "I take it you're the reason I'm alive, kid?"

"I'm the reason you almost died..." She whispered.

I let go, took off her hat, and gently rubbed the top of her head.

"Nobody's blaming you. People make mistakes. You took a calculated risk and it failed. It happens," I reassured her.

"But..." She said.

"No 'but's. You had to get the Time Piece, you did what you could to get to it. Maybe there's still time to help," I said.

She grinned.

"Right! There's still others left I need to find!" She shouted gleefully.

She wasn't doing this again, was she?

"Dont you mean '_we_ need to find'?" I asked.

She then shook her head and hopped out of the rowboat, then turned to the Express Owls.

"Get with the other rowboats. I'll be evacuating others to them," She said.

Oh, no way. Not this time.

I stood up.

"I'm not just stay-"

She clenched her fists and gave me a look that made me freeze, sending chills down my spine.

I could only hope to describe it with this: if looks could kill, I'd be in the deepest layer of hell now.

She took a deep breath.

"If I come back and find out you left, I will hunt you down and _knock you unconscious, _then drag your _unconscious body _all the way back here," She hissed slowly, "**Are we clear?**"

I nodded.

"Good," She responded, then turned around and walked a few steps, then stopped.

"I'm sorry."

She ran away before I could reply.

Then the Express Owls rowed us away.

I looked at the ship.

She could be freezing in the icy waters right now, struggling to free herself like I was, at that very moment, and I wouldn't have even known.

"Please be careful..." I begged, knowing full well it was useless.

We met up with the two other rowboats near some smaller icebergs, and I found myself pacing back and forth, waiting anxiously for the kid to come back.

"You seem pretty worried," An Express Owl noted.

"What are you, a detective?" I grumbled.

"I played one once, before Conductor hired those crows. But anyway, pacing back and forth won't make you worry less. There could be people who got outside the ship who got lost, why don't you help them?" They suggested, "It'll get your mind off of worrying."

... That actually did seem like a decent idea.

"I guess I could," I responded, "If she comes back before I do, tell her not to bash my skull in."

The owl nodded awkwardly, and I hopped off.

It didn't take me long to realize how correct the owl was.

There were lots of seals that had gotten stuck under chunks of ice, metal, or were just too tired... or injured... to move.

I helped the seals who were stuck and told them to get to the lifeboats, and picked up those who couldn't get to them on their own.

But on the way back, I guess I must've still been low on energgy from my near-death experience, because suddenly all my energy dropped and I slipped off into the waters, immediately in shock from the freezing cold.

I couldn't move at all. Again, the cold began to overtake my senses.

Why didn't I listen to the kid...?

Before I could pass out again, I felt a yank and was pulled out of the water, into the lifeboat.

I opened my eyes and saw that the others had pulled me and the people I were carrying out of the water, saving us.

"Thanks, guys," I muttered.

"No need," An Express Owl replied, "We were just doing what you were doing."

I chuckled.

"Don't tell the kid about this, please," I begged.

"They don't have to."

Crap.

I saw The Conductor, more seals, and the Mafia Boss be set down in the life raft, Conductor swearing, the Mafia Boss yelling, then the kid hopped in.

She didn't seem very pleased, and the two must've noticed, because they quieted down.

"Look-" I began, but was cut off.

"No, you don't have to say anything," She said calmly, "I get it, you wanted to help, and you didn't actually go _in _the ship, so I can't be _too _mad. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt."

I was shocked. Was she actually being serious?

She smiled, showing that she wasn't joking.

"Is anyone missin'?" The Conductor asked.

"It doesn't matter if one or two random people are missing! Let's move!" The Boss hissed.

There were many life rafts around now, and in them various Mafia Goons, crows, Express Owls, Moon Penguins, as well as The Conductor, Cooking Cat, and the Mafia Boss.

Judging from the sheer amount of people, it seemed like everyone was here.

Except...

"Where's the captain?" A seal asked.

"He must still be on board!" Another cried.

As if on cue, the intercom, which was somehow still working, turned on.

"Don't wait up for me, pup. Get in a boat and scram. This is my dang ship, and I'll go down with it!"

The kid instantly hopped out of the boat.

This would not end well. The ship would probably sink entirely any minute now.

"Kid..." I muttered.

"Lass, where are ye going?" Conductor asked.

"I can't leave him behind," She stated.

"Ye wanna save _him?_" He scoffed, "I'm not gonna hang around a sinking ship, not for one person! If ye don't get back quickly, we'll be forced to leave without ye!"

"So be it," She hissed, then ran off.

"You're joking, right?" I asked him, "About the leaving part?"

"Peck no! Why risk all of us dyin' for two people? Doesn't make sense, lad," He grumbled.

"Maybe because one of those people saved us?" I scoffed.

"And if we stay too long, that'll be for naught, we'll be at the bottom of the sea for eternity anyway," He replied, "Surely the lass would understand. If you want to stay, we'll leave ya behind, too!"

He then proceeded to stare at his pocket watch.

There'd be no reasoning with him...

Whatever. The kid was good. She'd come back quickly. So I just looked at the ship and waited.

Time passed. Was it a minute or an hour? I couldn't tell. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

The ship suddenly lurched and sunk more into the water with a metallic groan.

I began to feel sick.

The Conductor stomped his foot on the ground.

"Where's the lass? The ship is sinking, we gotta get outta here!" He shouted, "**Get over here, lassie! We're leaving **_**NOW!**_"

More time passed, and with each passing second, my anxiety doubled.

"Come on, kid," I whispered.

The ship suddenly began to shake and rumble.

"_**PECK!**_ It's going down! Start rowin'!" He yelled.

Nononononononononononono...

This couldn't actually be happening... she wasn't still inside the ship, was she?

The ship crashed beneath the sea. And there was no hint of the kid to be found.

Time seemed to freeze.

I refused to believe it. After all we went through, no. A boat couldn't be her undoing.

I must not have seen her get out of the ship.

She'd be on an iceberg somewhere. Surely.

"Let's go see if we can find anything nearby," I suggested.

"Fine, lad," Conductor grumbled.

We turned around and sailed back to the boat, and looked around everywhere for a sign of the kid.

EVERYWHERE.

But we found nothing.

I did nothing. I couldn't do anything.

After all this... it couldn't be...

I held my breath and shut my eyes to keep back the tears.

"What's with the grim faces? It's like a funeral here!"

I looked up to see Snatcher standing there, his typical stupid grin on his face.

"Yeah. A funeral. You're _soo_ _funny_," I hissed.

"Really?" He said tauntingly, "Wonder if you'll laugh at this."

He reached behind him then set something down in the boat.

I looked at-

The kid.

I immediately threw my arms around her in a hug.

No words were spoken. None were needed.

But for the first time since I came to this world, I truly cried.

**A/N: I am so proud of this chapter. Like you would not believe. Like, I have a huge grin on my face as I am writing this. I hope you liked it as much as I liked writing it.**

**And with that, Arctic Cruise ends. Only four Time Pieces remain. I reckon there are 4 chapters remaining at the very most. Or something like that.**


	66. Chapter 65: Safe and Sound

Chapter 65: Safe and Sound

**A/N: Just a small, little filler chapter or whatever between Rock The Boat and the ship Time Rifts. To make up for the short length, I'll do my best to get the next two chapters out lightning fast. Like, I'm hoping to get them out in 2-3 days, but who knows, life likes to throw curveballs.**

**Anyway, enjoy.**

It took awhile for me to get ahold of myself. Could you really blame me, though? I don't think so.

Anyway, it turned out that Snatcher had rescued both the kid and the Captain as well, as the walrus now sat on the other side of the lifeboat.

But one question remained above all, one that I wasn't quite sure how to ask.

Fortunately, the kid did:

"Why'd you save us?"

The shadow frowned.

"**If you think I did it out of 'goodwill' or whatever you mortals call it nowadays, you're **_**very mistaken! **_**You think I'd want one of my archnemesi to die a pathetic death like that? No! I want to take your lives myself!**" He spat.

"Then why'd you help the Captain, too?" I asked.

"**Right place, right time. Simple as that. And I don't want to bother with a kid throwing a tantrum,**" He muttered, "**But I think my job here is done, everyone is 'safe and sound' and all that nonsense. Ciao!**"

With a taunting smirk, he disappeared.

The captain then cleared his throat.

"Well, uh, anyway..." He muttered, "Why'd you come back for me, pup? Why wouldn't you just let me go down with my ship? I'm a walrus, pup. I can't drown. I could just pretend for a bit."

I had to do a double take on what I just heard, and I heard the kid facepalm and groan loudly.

"Are you serious right now?" I hissed.

"Uh... what?" He asked.

"Are you telling me, that she went in there and almost died for you, for _**NOTHING?!**_" I yelled.

He seemed visibly shocked.

**Good.**

"I... uh... I didn't think about it that way. _And I told her not to come after me!_" He grumbled, "It's not my fault she didn't listen!"

I stepped right in front of him and stared deep into his soul.

"Do _**not **_try to blame **your** stupidity and selfishness on **her.** And, say she listened. The crew looks up to you. How would they feel if their captain was gone?" I berated, "Who would bring them home? Ever think about that, 'Cap'?"

He took off his hat and scratched his head, sighing deeply.

"You're right. I... I'm sorry. Guess I was too upset to think clearly. And you're right, this crew'll never be able to get the lifeboats to shore without me," He said, "Alright, crew, let's go home."

"Thank you, miss!" A seal shouted.

"Like, thanks, dude. I totally didn't see this coming," The fish guy muttered.

"Aye, thank ye, lass. The little ones haven't learned ta swim yet!" Conductor said oddly calmly.

"Hopefully our insurance covers this..." I heard the Captain mutter.

Heh.

"Anyway, I can't hand out refunds, but it looks like there's something shiny on that iceberg over there? Funny how our ship crashed right next to it," He muttered.

I shot a quick glance at the kid.

"It's all yours, pup."

She hopped onto a lightboat and grabbed the Time Piece from a seal.

I joined her, and she hopped off the lifeboat. I did the same.

Multiple people asked us what we were doing, and we responded by saying we had our own way of getting 'home'.

So, we waved goodbye as they left, and once they were far away, I turned to the kid and smiled.

"I'm so happy you're okay," I said, "I don't care what he says, I'm gonna have to do something for Snatcher to make it up to him. Even if he hates every bit of it."

She giggled.

"It's time we go back," She stated as she held the Time Piece to the sky.

I nodded, and she grabbed my hand.

A few seconds later, and...

Ah, it felt good to be back.

We went to the main hub, and I just plonked down on the ground with a deep sigh of relief.

Yeah, the vacation was fun 'n all, but it still felt nice to be back somewhere familiar.

"Oh, right! Now that we're back..." The kid exclaimed, "I should show you the attic!"

"Didn't you say it would serve as my bedroom?" I asked.

She replied with a nod and an "mhm".

I smirked.

"Alright. Show the way," I said.

She grabbed my sleeve and took me up to the second level of the main hub, right next to the little ramp. There was another panel there, but no door. Instead, there was what seemed like an elevator mechanism running along the wall.

She tapped the monitor with a "boop", and a platform descended from the ceiling.

She stepped on and motioned excitedly for me to do so as well. I did.

The platform raised back up, and... yep, it seemed like what you'd expect from an attic. But it was clean, it had a wardrobe, it had a large bed with a nightstand and whatnot tucked away in the opposite-right corner of the room, as well as lots of chests and boxes and other random storage items you'd expect to see in an attic. But they were neatly and tidily stacked away, making the room seem far more clean and open than attics typically were.

The one thing that caught my eye was at the other end of the room, a telescope on a raised section of the floor peering out through a stained glass window depicting a Time Piece.

It was pretty nice.

"Did you sort this room yourself?" I asked.

"Yes," She answered, "Why?"

"I didn't know you could tidy things up this well, kid. Honestly, I was expecting a little bit of a mess," I muttered.

"Should I be flattered or insulted?" She asked jokingly.

I chuckled.

"Have you seen the rest of the ship? Each room is a mess! But, this is really nice. I'll definitely prefer staying here," I responded.

She smiled at that.

"But... uh..." I muttered, "Are there blinds for the big window?"

She snickered, which devolved into laughter.

"Of course there are!" She shouted, "Good luck reaching them, though! Now come on!"

She then motioned me over to the wall, where there was a small panel with some buttons on it.

"This is the main controls for the elevator. This room serves as a bedroom, but an elevator isn't really a door, so instead of having the elevator constantly going up and down and up and down and- you get it, you can stop it at any time, call it up, call it down, or lock it so you can't call the elevator down from the hub. Like how you'd lock a door," She explained.

I put my hand to my chin thoughtfully and nodded. It made perfect sense. And the various bits and bobs were labelled (in English), so I reckoned that I'd be able to figure it out on my own.

I grinned.

"This is great," I said, "No more stupid, uncomfortable hammock for me."

She giggled, then smiled.

"I'm glad you like it," She said.

"Not sure why you'd think I wouldn't," I replied, still with a grin on my face.

"Now lemme show you-"

_SURPRISE, _an alarm blares through the ship! A time rift alarm!

"... the rest of the stuff in here..." She finished disappointedly.

"There's always later," I replied.

She nodded slowly and we headed down to the main hub.

The kid tossed her Time Pieces in the vault, then tapped the big monitor.

Two new time rifts, both blue, in... _the spaceship? _One was in the lab and the other was in the kid's gallery! Huh?!

"Wh-_how?!_" Was all I could say in my state of shock, "Didn't they all fall onto the planet?"

She nodded rapidly.

"Hmm..." I said, putting my hand to my chin and leaning forward, "Something's fishy about this. Either the rules of the universe are being bent or these aren't natural. But with the whole multiverse colliding thing, I'm willing to bet it's probably option numero uno. Or who knows, maybe some Time Pieces _did _stay in the ship and managed to break themselves. But regardless, I think this means we're reaching the end, kid."

"But it doesn't matter how they were made, let's go!" The kid shouted, running to the machine room.

"Okay, okay, _okay!_" I yelled, running after her.

We weren't even back for an hour and already we were rushing to clear Time Rifts.

Who could've _possibly _seen this coming?

_Ha, ha, ha._


	67. Chapter 66: Time Flies

Chapter 66: Time Flies

**A/N: Kept my promise for once. A faster upload.**

**(Also, I'd make a Star Wars joke because of the chapter number, but I didn't wanna **_**force**_** my bad humour on y'all.)**

**. . .**

**I'll just... stop talking now. Enjoy the chapter... I guess...**

So, off we went to the kid's art gallery. Sure enough, blue Time Rift floating right there in the middle of the room.

"I'd assume we're both going in?" I asked.

She nodded.

With that response, I walked up to the Time Rift and stuck my hand into it.

A few seconds(?) later and poof, into the weird yet peaceful ocean realm.

Still didn't get why there were clock towers here. Like, yeah, it's an anomaly in time, but that's oddly specific. And beneath the sea? An infinite sea?

Maybe it had something to do with where the Time Pieces have been, I dunno. And I wouldn't ever know.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the kid land.

She motioned to follow her and hopped ahead. I did as she commanded.

The path ahead was pretty simple, some wall jumping, some spinny plus-shaped platforms (one of them we had to hop across the spinny parts against the spin because of a wall blocking out progress).

Then a bit of balloon jumping...? Well it wasn't the weirdest thing I'd seen in a Time Rift yet, but it just cemented it further in my mind that these things were ultra-weird.

Anyway... after that, it was some hopping across moving platforms, then the kid had to use her brewing hat to obliterate some large crates in our way. (She was still using her Nyakuza mask, and really I couldn't blame her. It was awesome.)

After that, hopping across two mostly-dash-shaped platforms attached to a cylinder and spinning opposite directions, then some bouncing across giant spiders (also weird).

Then all that was left was a bit more walljumping and hopping, and presto, Time Piece get.

After ending up back in the gallery, I smirked.

"Well, that was easy," I said, "A lot easier than the one you made me do by myself, _that's_ for sure."

She shrugged with a smirk on her face.

"Now let's get to the Lab," I said, running through the door.

"_Hey! _That's _MY _thing!" I heard her yell.

All I could do was laugh.

Not too long after, we sat in the lab, and there sat the other rift.

I didn't say anything, I just entered it.

But once we were in... yikes.

Remember those weird, aggressive, round crows? Well up ahead were tons of those crows, but dressed like a certain 1950's rock and roll singer. It was more strange than funny.

The kid landed behind me and I heard her release an exasperated groan.

"I take it you saw what I saw?" I asked.

"Sadly, yes," She answered miserably, "I hate these crows. They don't like to hurt you, they just like to bully you. Shove you around. And they move super fast, too!"

Wait...

"They _shove you?!_" I shouted in sheer concern.

She nodded confusedly.

"What's the big problem?" She asked.

I scratched my head.

"Well, kid... uh... have you looked down?" I responded.

She then smiled.

"Oh, don't worry! If you fall off you'll be warped back to one of those lamps. It'll hurt, though!" She explained.

I shook my head.

That _still sucked. _Big time.

I then sighed.

"Well, let's just get this over with," I grumbled.

"Don't bother attacking them, just avoid them!" The kid exclaimed as she jumped onto the next platform, hopping over the two birds in the way.

I heard a shove noise, and saw one of the birds go flying off into the void.

I laughed.

Karma!

I then followed after her, avoiding the one bird in the way.

I won't go into much more detail about the Time Rift, as it was actually trivial.

The platforming was a joke, the crows were predictable idiots who kept knocking eachother into the void... yeah.

Took no time at all to get to the Time Piece, without even being shoved once.

Back in the lab, the kid clapped her hands.

"That was sooo easy!" She shouted.

"I was expecting a bit more misery in that," I muttered.

"I was, too. Good thing those birds aren't the brightest fauna around," She agreed.

"Let's go put those Time Pieces where they belong and check how many we've got," I suggested.

She nodded, and we ran back to the main hub. She put them in the vault, and I looked at the big monitor.

My jaw dropped at the number.

54/56.

Like, over 95% done.

_**Only two remained.**_

Wow.

"It feels like yesterday when I first started helping you... and now we're here," I muttered.

"Yeah... how long have we been here? About a month?" She questioned, "It feels more like a week."

"Time flies when you're enjoying yourself, I guess," I thought aloud.

She nodded.

"I just wonder where the last two are... we've been everywhere on this planet," She stated.

I thought of something.

"No... no we haven't," I denied, "There's a telescope in the attic. We didn't even bother checking it."

Her face lit up.

"Oh, right! The attic!" She exclaimed, "I need to finish showing you around!"

She grabbed my arm and forcefully tugged me along.

"Come on!"

Heh...

She never did seem to keen on giving me choices.

She took me back to the attic and brought me over to the pile of crates and chests, taking one off of the top.

"Seeing as you're, well, in here for the long haul, I decided that, well, this chest is empty, so I'm giving it to you to store your stuff. You can also store your stuff in the nightstand and whatever, but I don't think a nighstand alone would be enough to store all your things," She explained, shoving it into my hands.

I was completely baffled. A chest?... I'm no hoarder!

"I don't think I'll be getting too many trinkets, kid," I muttered.

"I know," She responded, "But better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

That sounded like something I'd say.

It put a smile on my face.

"You have a point," I admitted, "Alright. Thanks, kid."

She smiled and nodded.

"I'll move the rest of this storage down to that weird cat room later," She said, then grabbed my wrist and tugged me over to the wardrobe. "For spare clothes and whatever. Speaking of, where's your band outfit? And all your other stuff?"

I shrugged.

"Haven't really been keeping track. Too busy catching Time Pieces and socializing," I responded.

"We'll have to look around sometime," She declared, then brought me to a door. "There's a small bathroom in there."

"Convenient," I replied, "Makes me wonder why your room doesn't have one, though."

She shrugged.

"Mine's closer to the main one, though," She reasoned.

Oh, yeah... not sure if I mentioned this, but if you're wondering, the main bathroom of the ship was in the main hub, the door to it located right under the big monitor.

I mean, I dunno why you'd be so curious about it, but... whatever.

Anyway...

"Is that all?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Alright, let's go ponder through that telescope," I suggested.

She nodded and ran up to it, peeking through the telescope.

She then lifted her head and adopted a look of very high confusion.

"What?" I asked.

"There's... nothing there," She said, "Just ocean."

"_What?_" I scoffed, "Lemme see."

She walked away and I walked up to it, looking through it.

Sure enough, it was focused on just water.

"What the..." I muttered, "... Maybe that'll be useful in the future?"

"I dunno," The kid replied, "But it's not useful now, which is boring!"

"Patience. We'll have to see," I stated.

She sighed.

"Well, what no-"

_**CLONK.**_

Pain.

I hissed and clutched my head. Something hit me in the back of my head! I then turned around to see what freakin-

Oh.

A swirling purple orb.

"Oh, Lord..." I whispered.

The kid seemed just as unnerved.

"I guess that's one of the two remaining Time Pieces found..." She reasoned, "Well, I guess I'll go deal with this."

No. Not an option. I had no idea what might be in there. Literally _anything._

"Kid... this Time Rift is going to be themed around _me._ If there's _anyone _who should be tasked with dealing with it, it's _me. _Alone," I declared.

She seemed skeptical.

"Are you sure?" She asked, "Purple rifts are a lot different from blue ones, and you know that they're based around the memories of those they were made from. Are you really ready for that?"

"I'm not sure if _you're _ready for what may be inside this rift, kid. It's my memories, so this is a job for me and me alone. I'm going to go in. Wait for me to return," I stated.

She took a deep sigh.

"Well, if you say so," She muttered, "Good luck."

I nodded and entered.

I braced myself for anything. Anything at all.


	68. Chapter 67: Don't Look Back

Chapter 67: Don't Look Back

**A/N: Well, I was hoping to get this chapter out as soon as I did the other one, but as I expected, but then Murphy's Law: anything that can go wrong will go wrong! I was very busy for a few days and just couldn't write. That's how mafia-uh... I mean, that's how life works.**

**Also, I'd been thinking for awhile about how I was gonna do this, had to re-write this whole chapter because I'd finished writing like half of it before I decided my idea of completely overhauling the Tour rift wasn't working. So I lost a few days of work, which killed my work ethic, which delayed it even further.**

**So yeah. Life is a complete peck neck.**

**But anyway, enjoy.**

I landed and found myself in-oh. The kid's bedroom. Or a time rift version of it.

Well, I guess it made sense, if I didn't have my memories complete of my old home, how would that turn into a Time Rift, if that time rift was built off of memories?

Perhaps I'd find _something_ of relevence in this rift, though. I'd have to find out.

Ahead was a weird object that looked like a pipe with a cover that looked like a clock.

It opened as I got close, and I poked my head in. I couldn't see anything.

But I had nowhere to go, so I jumped in.

And landed in what seemed to be a mock-up of Mafia Town, located in an infinite cave that even had colourful crystals growing out of its unreachable walls.

I saw some yellow pons with crowns inside them dotted about the place, they were releasing an aura similar to a Time Piece. I reckoned that I'd need 'em to advance.

So I searched high and low across the whole place looking for anything and everything, pons, storybook pages (cause I knew the kid would be _furious _if I didn't look for them)

In my exploration, I found that one of the sections of this place was flooded with lava coming from faucets, clearly referencing a very... 'uncool' event. I also found the next rift gate (didn't know if that's what they were called or not, that's what I thought to call them), which had a '3' floating over it.

Strangely enough, though, the place was full of hostile birds as well as Mafia Goons that made exploring slightly more annoying.

But, I found that one of the crown pons was located inside a large crate. A crate that, were the kid with me, she would've used her brewing hat to obliterate.

I decided to try that Megaton Badge the Badge Seller gave me awhile ago on it. It worked amazingly, completely crushing the box, and I picked up the pon inside.

Anyway, when I finished, I'd managed to find 4 special pons and 2 storybook pages. One was on a platform, another was hidden away near the coastline.

Satisfied that I found everything, I meandered over to the gate, which refused to open until I gave it three of the special pons (as I'd been thinking), and landed in a mock-up of Conductor's side of Dead Bird Studio, with C.A.W agents running around along platforms or sitting and laughing as they often did.

I decided to stay under the radar in case they thought I was an intruder.

So I got to sneaking around the place, finding a 'bloody' knife on the floor, a reference to an amazing movie, 4 more rift pons or whatever they were called, 2 more cleverly-hidden storybook pages, one behind some props, the other in a box, all while managing to not get detected.

Although I did almost get spotted once, and it was a good thing I was being sneaky, cause the crow seemed very alerted.

But anyway, once I was done, I hopped over to what seemed to be one of Conductor's sets, where the gate laid, popped in the three rift pons it asked for, and hopped through into-you guessed it-a mock-up of Subcon Forest.

Fortunately, it was a _small _mock-up, like the others. If it were the whole forest, finding everything would've been a complete nightmare!

I ran around, climbing trees, bouncing off mushrooms, picking up a cherry and bringing over to a treehouse to activate it with a dweller and nearly singe my hood off attempting to break an ice block with it, ringing a dweller bell to climb some green towers, climbing atop the giant well... and collecting pons and rift pons by doing so, as well as a storybook page sat atop a lone tower.

I sat atop the well and looked out over the forest, growing a warm smile on my face.

Oh... the nostalgia...

All the memories... good _and _bad... it was something I'd never forget.

Were we really _this _close to the end? Two Time Pieces left to collect, one after I finished this rift?

And then we'd be gone. Perhaps to never return.

I'd always have the kid, but...

It really seemed like yesterday when I found myself awoke in a dark, empty spaceship, not a damn clue who or where I was. And now just look at where I was.

I couldn't tell if I wanted to laugh or cry.

But I shook my head, snapping myself out of it.

Being sentimental would not get this rift finished.

Once I was sure I'd found everything, I went back to the well and jumped down.

It was frozen, dry, and pipe-y inside, just as I expected. I found another rift pon and wandered through a pipe over to a larger area, which was...

Snatcher's tree, surrounded by towers. Oddly, it was all slightly frozen. Perhaps a nod to Vanessa. The gate sat inside the tree, and I saw a '5' over it.

I did some final exploration to get a few more rift pons, as well as another page sat at the top of the tree (what a nice place to put it), then opened the gate and hopped through. In total, I found 6 rift pons and 2 storybook pages in this place, leaving me with three.

I knew I didn't need to collect 'em all, but I figured I might as well.

I landed in what I assumed must've been a mock-up of Alpine Skyline? Or at least its four peaks.

It was _pretty big _and _very _open, just like Alpine Skyline itself.

I knew immediately that finding everything here would be... er... troublesome.

However, what caught me off guard was that some of the freaking Death Blossom flowers were there, some in full bloom, even giant pieces of their pollen dotted around!

I remembered how close I came to my end because of those damn things _**VERY **_well, so naturally I didn't like seeing them here one bit.

Through my exploration, I found some exploding eggs (boy, did I not miss those) in the Birdhouse area, some dweller platform and bell related platforming in the Twilight Bell area (which was pretty cool), some grain cart platforming in the Windmill area (which I would've found cool if it didn't remind me of how much climbing that stupid thing floored me), and some sinking pillars in the Lava Cake area (which also brought back some not very fond memories).

But hey, even though they were bad memories, I guess they were still fun to look back on and laugh at. In some cases, at least.

Before I was sure I'd found everything (which oddly didn't take very long), I counted 2 storybook pages, one I found on a cliffside house in the Lava Cake area, the other was poorly hidden atop a birdhouse in the Birdhouse area, obviously. I also found 6 more rift pons, and when I found the rift gate in the Twilight Bell area, I saw it asking for 5.

I was sure I'd found everything, so I opened it and hopped through.

I found myself in-

... What?

A... city.

Not like a Moon Penguin city... no, the cars dotted about were too different. And the architecture had a different style to it, one less warm and detailed and more... cold? Formal? Something like that.

But... why did I feel _**INTENSE **_deja vu here? It couldn't be... my home city, could it? I hardly remembered the fricking place! It didn't make sense, I remembered the Metro and the Cruise in _far_ more detail!

My doubts were thrown out the window when I scanned my immediate surroundings.

People. Around my height. Wearing all sorts of different clothing. Looking at cell-phones, talking, walking, you know, doing what people do. But, strangely, nobody noticed me, even if I got in their way and did my best to grab their attention, yelling, waving, everything. They didn't even so much as flinch. It was like I was a ghost.

But either way, it made it clear: it _was_ my home city. It couldn't be anything else.

Perhaps I'd find some answers, finally.

I got to exploring.

The city was really quite interesting. It seemed to be a dense apartment district as all the buildings were, well, densely-packed apartment buildings.

There didn't seem to be anything on the bottom level except a springboard that would bounce me up, but I decided to explore around anyway, and I found a storybook page in the alleyways.

Satisfied, I meandered over to the springboard, which bounced me partway up to the top, where I landed on a balcony.

It seemed like I'd have to swing across some hookshot clamps while avoiding electric currents (I assumed it was just the Time Rift causing that danger) to navigate this area and find the rift pons dotted about.

I found two rift pons at this plane, before I found another springboard to bounce me all the way to the top.

Up here, I'd have to hop across power lines that were periodically turning on and off, minding the rhythm to avoid getting electrocuted and navigate across the roofs and collect the rift pons, then navigate to the rift gate atop the highest building, which, instead of power lines, seemed like it required some clever wall jumping to climb atop.

With a plan of action ready, I got to executing it.

I collected 3 more rift pons at the top, and as I navigated over to the tallest building and walljumped to the top, I saw the gate awaiting with a 5 over it.

I popped the rift pons in and hopped through.

I found myself in... an apartment bedroom.

It wasn't just any apartment bedroom, though. I recognized it _instantly._

_My apartment._

I don't know how to describe that came over me as the realization hit me.

It was... surreal. To say the least.

So much had passed, and I had found my real old home. Where I used to live before my life was completely spun on its head.

A purple orb sat on the bed in front of me, looking exactly like the Time Rift didI knew what I needed to do, but...

Maybe just one last tour wouldn't hurt...

I walked over to the bedroom door and attempted to open it. To my relief, it did.

I slowly walked around this humble abode of mine. Took in what I used to call mine. The living room. The kitchen. Even the bathroom.

I found my old PC. The large gaming monitor I had for it. All the wonderful gaming accessories I owned.

Even though I didn't have my memories complete, I knew I was proud of this. I could feel it. I didn't need to remember to know this was my biggest achievement. As a gamer.

Looking at it now, I couldn't understand how I could've _possibly _thought gaming was so important.

I chuckled, knowing my past self would've pulled his hair out at hearing that.

I really had grown, hadn't I?

And now I had something of _true _value. Something to _truly _love and cherish.

I looked down at the PC with a frown.

This?...

I kicked it over, listening to it crash on the floor.

This... was nothing.

It was time to return to what truly mattered to me.

I walked to the bedroom feeling like a new person.

The rift ball still sat there, on the bed, and with nothing else to do, I whacked it. Repeatedly. Listened to it break and crack, until finally...

A loud noise and bright light cascaded the room, forcing me to cover my eyes, and when I looked back, there sat the Time Piece.

With a deep breath, I grabbed it and closed the rift.

This chapter of my life was over.

And I'd never look back.

**A/N: Okay. Tour rift completed.**

**Now, to talk about why I did what I did with this rift: again, it simply didn't work. Frankly, I couldn't think of good enough ideas to fill the whole rift with, let alone detail each one. So instead I merely replaced the last two segments.**

**But regardless, I'm still **_**VERY **_**happy with how this turned out. Lots of self-reflection and self-realization. **

**I hope you all enjoyed it as well.**

**Next up: I'm thinking probably a filler chapter before the end begins. Or maybe not, maybe I'll skip straight to the finale. Only time will tell.**


	69. Chapter 68: Final Search

Chapter 68: Final Search

**A/N: Something I've found out recently, this story has recently surpassed 50k views.**

**50\. Thousand.**

_** ?**_

**If someone told my past self that something I made, let alone a fanfiction of all things, reached 50 THOUSAND FREAKING VIEWS, I'd have thought they were being sarcastic or otherwise poking fun at me.**

**This is madness. I know I've said this a lot, but still, thank you all for showing this story the insane support it's recieved. It's truly amazing to behold.**

**But enough of that. On with the chapter.**

I found myself back in the attic-

"What'd you find?"

... I should've been expecting that. Of course she'd want to know every single detail.

"It wasn't anything particularily grand," I answered, "Most of the rift was based around here. Your spaceship, Mafia Town, Dead Bird Studio, Subcon Forest, Alpine Skyline."

"But... 'most' of it?" She questioned, "What about the rest?"

I took a deep breath.

"The second last level was a city. Not like one you'd see here. I saw people, _MY _people, running around in the streets, doing their daily business, none of them noticing me, as if I didn't exist. It was really weird," I explained.

"Wow!" She exclaimed, "What about the last place?"

I scratched my head.

"It was... uh... my old home. Like, where I used to live. Everything was identical," I stated, "It was... well... quite the experience."

"Of course it was," She replied, "Anyway, did it help jog your memory any more?"

I shrugged.

"Not that I know of," I muttered.

She frowned.

"Booo!" She pouted, "How anticlimactic!"

"Such is life," I said.

"Did you at least get the storybook?" She asked, "Maybe there'll be something in there."

I perked up at that.

"Right," I said, "I did. Pretty sure I got 'em all, too."

I fumbled for the pages and pulled them out, and found them already put together in a book.

I looked at the cover.

'Far From Home'.

The picture showed a seemingly distant, cloaked figure that I recognized as myself, floating in space near a planet, another figure that I vaguely recognized as the Traveller floating behind him, near the top-right corner of the cover.

"Ooh!" The kid said, "Openitopenitopenit!"

I reached to open the cover, stopping just before I could.

...

Did I really wanna read this...?

Something told me not to.

"What's wrong?" The kid asked.

I sighed.

"I don't want this book being read," I said, "It just feels wrong."

Her excitement faded. What emotion she now held, I could not tell.

"Any reason why?" She asked, "I'm just asking."

I took a deep breath.

Why _did _it feel wrong?

"I don't really know, kid. Maybe I don't want the easy way out of my amnesia?" I said, "Or-"

"Maybe there's something in there you'd rather not remember."

I looked at her. A look I didn't see often on her had manifested:

Sadness.

"That's... probably it," I said quietly, "In fact, I know that's it."

She nodded.

"I had a feeling," She said, then looked directly at me with a sad smile. "Did you know that, when you first told me about your amnesia, I was jealous?"

Uh... what?

"You were _jealous?!_" I exclaimed.

She nodded.

"Why else do you think I was so mean to you in that first encounter?" She asked with a small chuckle.

"Because you thought I was there to steal the Time Pieces," I countered.

She nodded.

"Oh, there's that, too, but once you told me about the amnesia, a part of me just set off," She grumbled, "I _wish _I could've forgotten everything. Awoken in the middle of nowhere without even remembering my name. It wasn't fair that this _random weirdo _got what I so desperately desired when he clearly had no interest for it in the first place."

"'Random weirdo'?" I scoffed.

She shrugged defensively. "That's what I was thinking at the time! I don't think of you like that now!"

"Okay then," I replied, "You really must've gone through some bad things, though, to _want _to forget it all."

She nodded slowly.

"I wish I could tell you," She grieved, "But... I just can't. I-"

She lowered her head and sighed.

I couldn't see her be so down...

I walked over to her and slowly gave her a hug, patting her on the back. She returned it.

"It's alright," I cooed, "I understand. You can tell me when you're ready, it's no rush. And remember, no matter what happened in the past, you have me now. I won't let it happen ever again."

I looked right at her.

"Got it?" I asked.

She nodded and buried her head in my shoulder.

I smiled.

"Good," I said, voice barely above a whisper, "Don't you ever forget it."

We sat there like that for a few minutes, before she finally let go and scratched the back of her head.

"Well... what do we do now?" She asked.

I chuckled.

"You must be pretty eager to find that last Time Piece," I stated, and she nodded. "If you have any way to check for Time Pieces on the surface, do it. If not, we'll have to go ask around."

She nodded and ran off. I quickly followed.

Back in the main hub, she hopped into her pilot's seat, then proceeded to press a bunch of buttons, seemingly at random. A screen popped up in front of her, and she then sat and waited for a few minutes, staring at it intently.

Then, a beep played, and she made a pouting noise, still staring at the screen.

"Nothing," She said, "It found nothing. On the whole planet."

"Could the Time Piece be broken, or something?" I suggested.

"It would detect that, too," She explained, "I'm guessing it's either in a Time Rift that's waiting to open, suuuuuuuuuuuuper deep underground, or in space."

"I doubt all three of those scenarios," I grumbled, "Where would the Time Rift be? We've gotten every Time Rift everywhere. It couldn't have gotten deep down, unless it was in the Metro, but we got everything there. And in space? They all fell on the planet. So unless it was launched _into _space, that wouldn't make sense."

She groaned.

"I'm aware of that," She muttered, "But it doesn't seem like we have any options, now do we?"

"Let's go ask around. Maybe someone knows," I suggested.

She nodded.

"Let's start off in Mafia Town," She said, running over to the kitchen. I tagged along.

When we landed, the town seemed rather quiet, except for the few non-Mafia townsfolk milling about un-terrorized for once.

"Odd," I said, "The Mafia would probably know more than these folk, funny how they're gone the one moment we need 'em."

"Maybe they're having a meeting?" She suggested.

"Perhaps," I replied, "Let's go to their HQ and find out."

She nodded, and so we went.

Didn't take long to get there, and oddly enough, the doors were open, yet guarded by Mafia Goons, who, strangely, let us inside without trouble.

Inside, sure enough, the place was crammed with Mafia Goons, and their jar-boss, who sat elevated on a ladder.

Everyone turned to face us, including the boss.

"Oh, look who showed up," He grumbled, "What perfect timing, right in the middle of my debriefing!"

I shrugged, and the kid giggled.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"Boss... should we... uh..." A goon questioned uncomfortably.

He seemed to take a deep sigh.

"No... that won't be necessary," He said hesitantly, "They did save me, after all. What do you two want?"

"We're looking for our last missing Time Piece, but can't find it. We were wondering if anyone knew anything about it," I explained.

The goons proceeded to discuss inaudibly between themselves, seemingly irritating the boss.

"_**Silence!**_" He shouted, "If anyone knows anything, let them know so we can continue already!"

The goons were silent.

"Nothing?" He questioned, and the goons nodded. He then turned to us. "Well, too bad for you, there's nothing of use to you here. Now _get out!_"

"How subtle," I said, "Well, you heard the jarman, kid, let's go."

She nodded, and we left.

We checked Dead Bird Studio next. Wouldn't be surprising if the directors knew anything about the missing Time Piece.

We entered and walked up to the receptionist, who seemed preoccupied writing something down.

"What can I help you with?" He asked, not paying attention.

"We're looking for Conductor and DJ Grooves," I explained.

"Do you have a meeting with them?" He asked.

I smirked.

"Do you _really _think _WE _need one?" I chuckled.

He finally looked up from his paper and seemed quite surprised.

"Oh!" He said, "Sorry about that. DJ Grooves is gone for the day, but I'll call Conductor down."

"Thanks," I muttered, and we walked away and sat down.

Not too long after, the bird himself showed up, and saw us. We both waved, the kid waving a lot more energetically than me.

He walked over with a smirk.

"Ah, if it ain't the lad and lass," He greeted, "What brings ye 'ere today? Lookin' to get back into actin', maybe?"

"You wish!" The kid laughed.

"We're looking for a Time Piece that's gone missing," I explained.

He let out a 'hmm' sound and put a hand...wing... whatever to his chin... or whatever it was.

"I hadn't seen or heard about a Time Piece since you-know-what," He replied, "Maybe _DJ Peck Neck _would know something about it, given how _**obsessed**_ with the things he was, but not me."

I frowned.

"You know, you really shouldn't give him a very hard time," I said, "He regrets what he's done. He's done what he can to try and make up for it. You don't have to forgive him, but don't give him grief. He has enough of it already."

He shook his head.

"Nae can do, laddie," He negated, "He deserves 'grief' for what he's done."

"I'm sure he'd agree," I grumbled, "But it ain't true. The Time Piece drove him mad. Wasn't his true self. So give him a break."

"_**No.**_"

"Please?" The kid asked, giving him a sad look.

Seconds passed.

"_Fine..._" He muttered, then looked directly at her. "Don't do that again, lassie. It won't work next time!"

She giggled.

"Well, we should probably get going," I said.

The kid nodded, so we said our goodbyes to the Conductor and returned to the ship.

From there, we went to Subcon.

"Snatcher-!" The kid shouted as she ran up to his tree.

"_**NO,**_" The resident noodle-man replied, "**Whatever you want, the answer is **_**no.**_"

"We're just wondering if you've seen a Time Piece around here that hasn't been rightfully returned to us," I said.

"**Nope, I have not, and I don't want to! Now **_**scram.**_** I just got to the good part of this book,**" He hissed, "**And another thing...**"

He then closed his book and very quickly got in my face, causing me to step back in alarm.

"Uh..." I said.

"_**You **_**have a **_**debt**_** to repay me, and I don't think I need to tell you what for!**" He stated mockingly.

"I'm not giving you my soul, like you could even take it," I grumbled.

"**No, I have **_**other **_**things planned for you. You'll know when I want it done,**" He said evilly.

"Am I supposed to be scared?" I asked non-chalantly.

He chuckled.

"**You will be,**" He said, "**Now off you go! Go pester someone else!**"

He then shoved me over to the kid, who warped us back up to the ship.

"Rude," I grumbled.

"That debt won't be a problem... we shouldn't be sticking around long enough anyway," She laughed.

I didn't laugh back.

Rather, I frowned.

"Let's just go check Alpine Skyline," I muttered.

We did. Nothing. Not even in the 'Twilight Zone'.

We searched the city where our cruise took off. Nothing.

We poked around in the Metro. Nothing.

We even scanned the Moon.

Nothing.

It was like it disappeared from existence.

At the end of the day, we sat in the spaceship, kid sitting in her chair miserably and me pacing around, deep in thought.

Where could this damn thing have gone?! Unless it was in a rift that still needed to appear, it didn't make sense!

Did it freaking-... oh.

"Hey kid, do you think maybe it went to another dimension?" I asked.

"Unless Mr. Traveller had something to do with it, I doubt it," She grumbled.

"I heard my name."

We both turned to see you-know-who floating there with a smirk on his face.

"You didn't throw a Time Piece into another dimension, did you?" I grumbled.

He scoffed.

"Why would I? That's pointless, a waste of my time. All it would do is meet with another Time Piece and annihilate," He grumbled.

Oh, wait...

"Wait, so if two of the same things from two different dimensions collide, they-" I asked.

"They obliterate themselves from existence. No exceptions," He answered, "So when you master that ability-oh, have you told her yet?"

"I know about the dimension thing," She said, "He told me not too long ago."

He nodded.

"I see. As I was saying, when you master the ability to traverse dimensions, that's the reason why you should not bring her along. Merely being in another universe where she already exists could have negative ramifications," He warned.

"Figured," I said, "Thanks for clearing that up."

He nodded.

The intruder alarm suddenly blared, and he disappeared.

We turned to the hatch to see DJ Grooves climb inside.

What strangely perfect timing!

"Hello, Grooves," I greeted, "What brings you here?"

"Didn't you darlings call for me, and I was gone?" He asked.

"We did," The kid answered, "Know anything about a missing Time Piece?"

He cringed.

"I don't want to know anything about a missing Time Piece, darling," He grumbled.

"So you don't know _anything? _You're kinda our last hope here," I muttered, "We literally just need _one more, _and it's like it ceased to exist."

"Hmm... well, now that I think about it..." He muttered.

That peaked my interest.

He then cringed again and facepalmed hard.

"What?" I asked.

"I gave one to that little moustached girl for showing me how to use a Time Piece," He said, shaking his head furiously.

"You _**what?!**_" Both me and the kid yelled.

"Back then, she tricked me into thinking you two were hoarding the Time Pieces for yourselves. She had no Time Pieces and said she needed one, and I knew I only need one, so I gave her one that I didn't need as a 'token of appreciation' of sorts," He said.

"Fantastic, so we're gonna have to track her down," I hissed.

"I'm sorry darlings... it seems like I really did mess up, didn't I?" He apologized.

"Whatever, it's fine. We'll just have to find her. We did save her life, so she can't still be mad," I muttered.

"Well, good for you, darlings," He said, "I'll head down to the studio now. Feel free to join."

He then hopped back out through the hatch and left.

"Still don't get how you can open that hatch without the vacuum of space sucking everything out," I pondered.

"Magic!" She shouted.

"No, really," I said.

"Yes, really," She laughed, "Magical enchantments on the ship keep the vacuum out, so long as the ship doesn't recieve exterior damage."

"Oh," Was all I could say, "Cool. What do we do now?"

"Let's go look around in Mafia Town one more time," She suggested.

"Alright."

We went to the kitchen, peered through the telescope, and we poked around the island town one last time, and found nothing.

We sat at the beach, watching the sun set. We wouldn't be looking around at night.

"I guess there's always tomorrow," I said.

"Would've preferred to find it today," She grumbled.

"Such is life. We have all the time in the world," I assured her, "Now let's go back to the ship and get some rest."

She nodded hesitantly, and we returned.

I walked out into the main hub and a shriek escaped me:

"_What the __**HELL ARE YOU DOING?!**_"

A certain moustached pest turned to face me, holding a bunch of Time Pieces next to an opened vault.

Instead of answering, she broke them.

A blinding flash of light filled the ship.

I knew one thing, and one thing only:

Something awful was about to happen.


	70. Chapter 69: Ruin

Chapter 69: Ruin

**A/N: Well, here we are. The final level. Hope you enjoy.**

**Also, again, later upload. Oof. I went on a road trip to visit family, didn't have the tools to write. Sorry!**

When the light cleared, I found myself standing in the main hub of the ship.

However, I noticed a strange orange-red glow coming in through the window.

I turned to the planet, and-

"_Dear God._"

This lively planet was brought to ruin.

What was once a lovely ocean place with many different places with so much different variety... was now a lava-ridden hellscape with a giant castle towering from the north pole.

Said castle had an unmistakeable moustache built out of gold on the top, and a long pathway leading up to the grand entrance.

"I knew she was a loose cannon, but this is something else," I muttered, "And to think that after we saved her life, she comes back and does _this... _we need to go put her in her place. Right, kid?"

I recieved no answer.

"Kid...?" I asked, turning around.

She was affixed to the planet, a haunted look on her face.

She noticed me watching her and sighed.

"This is exactly what I wanted to avoid," She said, "The Time Pieces, if abused... their wielder becomes that of like a demigod. And if abused too much... it can destabilize the universe itself."

Something seemed off about her demeanor, though.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I was taught to keep the Time Pieces safe. That they were more valuable than my own life. I was taught that, if you lost them, you had to get them back at any cost. And if you let them fall into the wrong hands, you have to get them back, by force if needed, and if you can't, you're a failure, a 'disgrace to your species', and that you deserve to die trying," She said.

"Sounds like your teachers were terrible people," I grumbled, "Imagine telling a child that something is more valuable than them, and that they deserve to die for something. Nobody should be told that, let alone a kid."

"They're Time Pieces, though..." She said.

"Doesn't matter. As long as you _try _to do good, you're **never **a failure," I stated.

She sighed.

"I guess," She muttered, "We should get going."

"How do we get down? Ship's out of power," I asked.

"We jump," She said.

"We _what?_" I questioned.

"Out through the hatch. I have my umbrella and you have that badge, so we'll be fine," She said, then a look of realization hit her.

"What?" I asked.

"It'll be _**PECKING HOT**_ down there," She said, "I have something to deal with that, though!"

She threw me a beaker full of red liquid.

"Drink it," She said, "Your hood won't protect you from this heat. This will."

I did, and had to force myself not to gag.

It tasted like... well, to be frank, it tasted like death. I know that's not very descriptive, but it was as true as you could get.

I set down the beaker, shuddered, and walked over to the hatch, where she was waiting with it open.

I quickly made sure I had the right badge on, then...

"3, 2, 1, go!" She shouted, and we hopped out.

And we fell.

Alllllllll the way down.

It was exhilarating, to say the least. Adrenaline was pumping as the ground gradually grew closer.

A gust of air slowed me down to the ground, and I noticed... yeah, it felt warm here, but I didn't feel like I was going to die. That potion worked well.

And, looking around, I noticed a queue? Also, volcanoes were erupting in the background. Yikes.

Many people were lined up at a loooooooooooong lineup ahead, with even a ticket dispenser at the back.

The kid ran up to the ticket dispenser and grabbed a ticket... then another... and another and another and another.

I walked ahead and talked to Cooking Cat.

"Oh, hello!" She greeted, "Guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you here. Is the little girl here, too?"

I nodded. "Who _isn't _here?" I scoffed, "Not many other places to go when the whole planet is covered in lava."

"Haha, tell me about it! I've been in hot kitchens before, but this heat is..." She said, then made a tired groan. "I don't know how you're not breaking a sweat, but I'm really cooking. Why don't you two skip the queue and find out who's head chef here?"

"Already on it," I said.

The kid had stopped yanking out tickets, threw em into the lava, then gave me a thumbs up.

We continued on.

Snatcher was awaiting us up ahead, at a small little clock-shaped waiting area with two sets of stairs, one to the left and the other to the right, and with a moustache in the center.

"**Hey, you two. How's those souls of those? Still rattling around in there?**" He greeted, "**Well... at least **_**she **_**has one! Ahahaha!**"

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever, why're you here? Same as everyone else?" I muttered.

"**Yep. Brought here to be 'judged'. I'd like to know who thinks they're a big enough deal to judge **_**ME!**_** So I've taken a few... (hundred)... souls, **_**BIG DEAL!**_"

I wasn't sure whether to be amazed or disgusted by his non-chalant-ness.

"**Do us all a favour. Go check out who thinks they're better than us, and **_**hit them!**_" He hissed, "**I don't usually like advocating that kinda thing, but this is pretty authoritarian.**"

"What about the fire spirits?" The kid asked.

"**I said I don't **_**usually**_** like advocating it!**" He said, "**Now stop waiting around and get to it!**"

"Sheesh," I muttered, walking off to the right and up the stairs, finding Conductor waiting there.

"Hello, Conductor," I greeted.

"Yer here too, lad?" He asked, and I nodded, "What is this place? I've never broken a law in me life!"

"I somehow doubt that..." I muttered under my breath as the kid caught up.

"Oh... whoever they are, I'm nae gonna be judged by some-"

Oh, here he goes...

"MOUSTACHED,"

"HATLESS,"

"_HOOD-WEARIN',_"

"_STATUE-POSIN',_"

"_**CASTLE-DWELLIN',**_"

"_**TICKET-GIVIN'**_,"

"_**PECK NECK!**_"

Multiple other people in the audience whooped and cheered in agreement.

"You're really ticked off about this, aren't you?" I noted.

"Me train's gone!" He shouted, "How can I not be?"

"Fair enough," I muttered, then walked ahead.

I spotted DJ Grooves on the other side and walked up to him.

"Good to see you, darlings! (Even on such a... _poor _occasion)," He greeted, "Glad to know I'm not the only superstar waiting around this... **TAWDRY **place."

"You can say that again," I agreed.

"I'd love to go give that moustached nuisance a piece of my mind myself, but... uh... that wouldn't end very well, now, would it?" He muttered, "So, how about you two slide on up past those doors and give her a piece of all our minds?"

"Already on it!" The kid shouted.

We walked up to the large double doors and opened them, walking up more stairs up to the entrance of the castle. I screeched to a halt when I saw someone standing at the entrance, surrounded by a few 'employees', waving a fan furiously.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up," The Empress muttered, "I'm willing to bet you two are responsible for this... _**OUTRAGEOUS mess.**_ So. Your first job from me, is to infiltrate that fortress and make that moustached brat _suffer._"

"We... uh... we were already going to confront her," I said.

"Perfect," She said, "Now get going, I have a Metro to get back to."

We advanced forward.

But I found myself slowing down to a halt again, staring at the castle ahead.

It practically _SCREAMED_ 'giant death-trap'.

It'd be a hellish path to the end, I knew it for a fact.

And if the kid was right... how would we even beat the moustached brat? She had the Time Pieces. She could just rewind Time if she lost!

We could try talking to her-pfft, yeah, like _that_ worked in the past.

This would not end well. Someone was going to die, I knew it.

This would be the end.

I was brought out of my thoughts when the world seemed to... shift.

I don't think anyone else noticed it, but it was clear as day to me. It felt like the world had turned into what a flashback would feel like.

And in front of me, I saw two ethereal figures come into existence. One was about my height, the other about the kid's.

Slowly, they gained more form, until...

I recognized the smaller one as the kid. The taller one was a woman with a black fedora with matching suit, blond hair, and green eyes.

I approached them, but neither noticed me. This must've been another parallel universe... but I was awake... and they didn't notice me?

The woman turned to her Hat Kid and smiled.

"Ready, Melody?" She asked.

'Melody'?

... That was a nice name for her.

"Let's go," The girl replied.

The two then walked into the castle, phasing through me in the process, with a look of steely determination on their faces. They then faded back out of existence, and the world went back to normal.

... Was that a vision of the past? A past event in another universe, maybe? Cause if it were happening at that very moment, I felt fairly certain that I'd have a more vivid vision. And they'd have probably seen me as well.

But... knowing that this had happened before, that other people had faced this...

It gave me courage.

I-no... _**WE **_would give that pest what she deserved.

"Are you okay?" The kid asked, "You seem pretty nervous."

I took a deep breath, and smirked.

"Never been more ready in my life," I replied, "Let's go get our Time Pieces back."

With a nod, we ran into the castle.

On the inside-oh, lord, that was a _loooooong _path to the end. And there was lava. Everywhere.

"How does she expect to judge people if they can't even make it to her?" I scoffed.

She shrugged and ran ahead.

Some flaming birds impeded our progress but we just avoided 'em.

Then began the platforming... as an orchestra began to play an ominous theme that sent chills down my spine, echoing down these halls of the damned.

Back to the platforming: hookshot clamping, hopping across sinking/raising pillars, springboard bouncing, navigating spinning flamethrowers (the first one had a fire spirit dancing on top of it and weirdly talking about how it burned)

Then the first stop came at an ice hat board.

The kid bounced to the other side just fine, but...

Wouldn't my Megaton Badge just break the stupid thing?

I guessed it was worth trying.

I stepped back, made sure I had the badge equipped, and slammed the board, this time making sure I did it 'lightly'.

It didn't break.

So, I repeated it, this time with me standing on it.

It threw me unceremoniously through the air, causing me to roll and faceplant upon landing.

"Are you okay?" The kid asked.

"Better than eating lava for breakfast," I replied.

I noticed an unconscious owl on the floor.

"Uh..." I said, "What happened to this guy?"

"Dummy attacked me for having a back of the line ticket!" She pouted.

"Oh. They must be really shaken," I muttered, "We have to end this, if even the Owls are becoming hostile."

She nodded, and so we continued.

Two more owls stood in the way, throwing clipboards and stuff at us, but this time we just ignored them and climbed up onto a higher platform. From there, we had to dodge a line of small cannons, then navigate across two moving _and _sinking platforms.

The path ahead was now a small line of wooden platforms suspended above the pool of death, with a gigantic egg cannon firing at us from the other side.

Fortunately, the path did have some 'branches' that we could jump to, practically bypassing the whole big cannon thing.

It was then I noticed the huge golden statues of our enemy watching us judgingly as we advanced.

How narcissistic... and she thought herself a hero? Tch.

From there, it was just two more hookshot swings, a bit more jumping, and...

Oh.

This was only the halfway point... wait, no, it seemed more like the _thirdway point!_

All I could do was groan with the exasperation.

Well... on we pushed. Dodged more flaming birds and spinning flamethrowers, across some platforms, across a small bridge with two egg cannons firing in a pattern across it, up some green pillars, hopped across platforms with _more _firey birds and flamethrowers on it...

"She really likes her fire, doesn't she?" I muttered.

"Maybe she took inspiration from the Lava Cake," She replied.

"She'd never be able to build something as grand as that, not even with a million Time Pieces," I chuckled.

On we went... again... this time, across some rectangular metal plates suspended by chains from the ceiling, with more spinning flamethrowers hazarding the path ahead.

But it was still no problem for us, and as we swung ahead, I noticed the six large faucets spewing magma all over the floor, just like in Mafia Town.

All I could do was look away in disgust.

Ahead, we had to navigate across unstable platforms (which was quite complicated with two people doing it) and then jump, dive, and slide down a green slope to the next checkpoint.

A large purple wall impeded our progress, but as I stared at it, I felt a shove from behind and rummaging through my pockets, then a faint, yet unmistakable feline laughter.

"Is now really a great time to be trying to rob people?" I hissed.

"Business is business," The cat laughed from their camouflage.

It was a short fight. They attempted to go after the kid next, we both were expecting this and countered accordingly, knocking them out quickly.

I got my pons back, and we continued ahead, me using my charm to phase us through the wall.

And ahead... yep, I was right, there was another section ahead.

There were multiple panicked Express Owls awaiting us, that instantly tried attacking us. We attempted to ignore them, but the path ahead was blocked by bars, so we knocked them unconscious.

And oddly enough, the bars lowered right after the last one conked out.

The path ahead was a series of jumps from pillar to pillar, but sadistically, gilded hammers swung down automatically on some of the pillars, threatening to crush anyone who dared linger too long or mistime their jump.

But we were experienced platforming experts by now. We made it through unharmed, hopping onto a platform and up a springboard.

A goat meandered back and forth ahead. We minded its personal space and climbed up a wall to continue.

"Watch your step, you two!" One of Snatcher's minions shouted.

"No kidding," I said, "Not a lot of room for error here."

"Yeah... be careful, Boss would be devast-," The minion muttered, then faked a coughing fit.

I could only assume that the minion meant 'devastated', but that'd just be too good to be true.

"Oh? What was that?" The kid pressed.

"N-nothing," The minion said, "Boss would have me hanged if I told you."

"Hanged?" I questioned, "You mean... like, the... execution kind?"

"Yep," The minion said, "Now get going in case he's listening. I've already said too much."

I nodded, and so we continued.

Across more hanging metal plates and flamethrowers, then across some balloons and a hookshot clamp, through a small series of hammers swinging down in a pattern...

"I can't get through there! I'm no stunt owl!" An owl scoffed.

I could see what he meant. The next obstacle was too quadruple spinning flamethrowers, one on the left and one on the right, each spinning opposite directions.

Fortunately for us, though, a well timed jump and double jump cleared the obstacle quickly.

I looked ahead and saw that, instead of another tall corridor leading ahead, there was a set of double doors and a stained glass window depicting a Time Piece at the end of the room.

Seemed like we were getting to the end.

One hookshot swing, then a bit more flamethrower-oriented platforming, a little bit of hopping, and we came to the final stretch.

"I can smell chicken!" A minion declared.

Both me and the kid cringed at that.

"That's horrible," I muttered, voice barely above a whisper.

"Oh-_oh..._" The minion said, "Uh... sorry about that."

I just nodded, and we continued ahead.

A few short hops, evading hammers in the process, and we were running across a red carpet to the large doors.

"You ready, kid?" I asked.

"More ready than ever," She said.

We then both said the same thing at the same time:

"It's go-time."

**A/N: Alas, a split! Yes, sadly, the important part of the finale had to be cut off to another chapter, cause hey, this mission is pretty long. If I wanted to keep it one-chapter, it would've been probably like 3x longer than most other chapters.**

**...Which would've delayed the release of this chapter for probably another 3 days or more. Not ideal. Nor is it consistent.**

**So yeah. Again, sorry. But hey, that gives time to get ready, yeah?**

**Anyway, another review came in:**

**Cages21: Couldn't've said it better myself. It really is about to go down... like a nuclear bomb. Thanks for the review.**

**Next chapter will be a doozy, if you can't tell. Prepare yourselves, I'm gonna have to prepare **_**myself **_**to write it.**


	71. Chapter 70: Journey's End

Chapter 70: Journey's End

**A/N: This is it.**

**The final chapter... over a year in the making. Feels like yesterday I began this story, now it's at it's end. **

**And what timing, we reached triple digits followers just in time for it.**

**I honestly can't say how much of a blast this journey was, but nostalgia can wait for the epilogue (although it won't be a true epilogue cause a second story is coming).**

**Without further ado, let us begin this long journey's end.**

The doors opened for us, and the sight immediately was, well, displeasing.

Moustache Girl sat atop a throne, which was sitting atop a mountain of Time Pieces. And in front of her, a Mafia Goon sat atop a trapdoor on his knees.

"-I didn't punch old man for, like, two days straight that one time!" The goon stammered. I didn't catch the first part.

"Oh, wow. What a _touching story!_" She scoffed, "Just kidding: bad guy! Next!"

The trapdoor opened, and the Mafia Goon was never seen again. All that could be heard was his screams growing faint.

"I said... _next!_" She hissed.

Words could not describe how much this narcissism disgusted me.

Anyway, we stepped forward.

"Oh, it's you two," She said, "I was wondering when you'd show up. You've been kinda a selfish little pest, but, eh. You two never really got in my way, so I guess you get to go on. You're good guys, I guess."

'Selfish little pest', clearly she forgot about something.

"Didn't we save your life?" I asked.

"What?" She responded.

"In Subcon Forest. Snatcher was gonna kill you and we intervened," I explained.

"Oh, you mean when you got me thrown across the planet," She hissed, "Yeah, real helpful."

"A million times better than what he was gonna do," I reasoned.

"Whatever," She said, "Go on, you get to _live._ Next!"

The kid crossed her arms, and I scratched my head.

"We need those Time Pieces to leave, though!" The kid shouted, "They're my fuel source! You took them from us!"

"And I'm using them for good," She said, "Better than having them rot in a vault forever! You're not getting them back, so leave before I change my mind!"

"Of course..." The kid muttered quietly, "Guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way."

Before I could ask her what she meant, she bolted forward and ran up the pile of Time Pieces, straight toward Moustache Girl.

What happened next is what really set me off the most:

Moustache Girl smacked her in the face, sending her tumbling back down. I quickly ran over to make sure she was okay. She was completely unharmed, to my relief.

But... now Moustache Girl would pay. Big time.

"_**Excuse me?!**_" She scoffed, "Don't you dare get anywhere _near _me. I don't think you quite understand who's in charge here, little missy."

"And I don't think _you_ quite understand how little we care," I hissed.

She audibly growled.

"You know, I was willing to forgive you two. I once thought we'd be best buds!" She yelled, "But nope! You turned out to be rotten and selfish! Save the planet from bad guys? Pfft, who needs that, am I right?"

"Yes, you are 100% right!" The kid exclaimed with a smirk.

I grinned as I watched the realization hit her.

"Forget it," Moustache Girl muttered, "Look at all I've done without you. I've restored justice. I _**AM **_the justice. No more bad guys, **ever.** I don't need you. This planet doesn't need you. Nobody will miss you, and nobody will care!"

"That doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that this madness ends, one way or another," I said.

She then jumped off of her throne and landed in front of us in a fighting stance.

"You are the bad guy, and I'll show you how this justice system deals with bad guys!" She yelled.

"Go ahead and try."

She then teleported a few feet away, which caught me off guard.

"Teleportation?" I muttered.

"That's... one of her powers," The kid whispered.

She then did it again. And again, and again, picking up speed.

I had a feeling where this was going.

She teleported in front of me. I parried the following attack and smacked her in the face with my baton.

She did not seem happy... good.

From there, she teleported into the air, hovering there, then grabbed Time Pieces and took a throwing stance.

"Don't try catching them, just dodge!" The kid warned.

Moustache Girl proceeded to throw them down at us, and I did as I was told and merely evaded. Time didn't rewind.

She then floated down to the ground, and the kid quickly bolted over and did her homing attack thing on her, knocking her back.

From there, she dove into the ground...?

I saw the floor begin to rumble underneath the kid. I was about to warn her, but she jumped out of the way anyway and countered with an umbrella whack. Seemed like she really knew what she was doing.

From there, Moustache Girl then began spinning in the air, then dove straight at me. I was able to jump over the attack, although I was unable to counter it, as she zoomed straight to the other side of the room, and teleported away before either of us could reach her.

She began throwing Time Pieces again. The kid responded by chucking a potion in her face.

She then tried teleporting around her, but she saw it coming and...

They knocked eachother backwards, to opposite ends of the room. I quickly ran over to her to make sure she was alright. She got up with a grin on her face.

Moustache Girl took a running stance. It seemed she was about to charge at us. I took a defensive stance in response.

But before anyone could act...

"She can _**GET LOST!**_"

That stopped all three of us, we all turned to see a Mafia Goon standing right beside me and the kid, staring right at Moustache Girl.

"Moustached girl not welcome here. Mafia say: _**GET LOST!**_" He boomed.

Suddenly, Conductor appeared and walked up next to the goon, shaking his fist(?) angrily at Moustache Girl.

"That's right, _**GET LOST! **_No one wants ye here!" He hissed, "Ain't that right, big lad?"

A goat entered the room, stopping behind the two, and nodded.

Next, Snatcher appeared out of nowhere behind the goat and growled at Moustache Girl.

"**This alternate reality STINKS! **_**GET LOST!**_" He boomed.

DJ Grooves then walked in, accompanied by his Moon Penguins.

"Darling, darling, you've just made everything worse for everybody! Get _lost!_" He grumbled.

"You heard the boss, get lost!" A moon penguin shouted.

"Get lost!"

"Yeah, get lost!"

"Go away!"

"You suck!"

Cooking Cat then came in and hopped on top of the goat, grabbing one of their horns for balance. It surprised me that they didn't shove her off.

"Yeah, get lost!" She agreed.

And finally, the Empress walked in, accompanied by her cats.

"You've cost me more in one day than anyone else has in their entire life," She said oddly calmly, "_**GET LOST!**_"

Her cats then murmured in agreement, quietly enough that I couldn't hear.

Everyone then began shouting one universal message:

"_**GET LOST!**_"

I looked around in awe at it all.

Everyone we'd met... literally everyone... was here. On our side.

It was... surreal.

Moustache Girl seemed... hurt.

"W-wha? But I'm... fixing everything! No more bad guys!" She said, "Why can't you see that I'm doing this for all of us?"

"You destroyed all of these peoples' homes. Forced them to go through a death trap, just to maybe have a _chance _of living. And even if they did live, where would they go? Again, you destroyed all of their homes. Fighting evil is fine, but this? This is not fighting evil. This is causing unnecessary suffering," I said, "This has to end."

The crowd cheered.

She seemed taken aback.

"How can you stand behind these people? They're crooks, _criminals!_ And you're... you're helping _**THEM?!**_" She scoffed.

"Better than helping a megalomaniacal tyrant who thinks she's good when she's not," I countered.

The look on her face darkened drastically.

Oh, that set her off.

"_This... ends... __**NOW!**_"

She threw a Time Piece at the ground. It created a pitch black vortex that enveloped the room. All I could see was black... until Time Pieces began raining from the sky.

"Kid?" I shouted, looking around for her as I avoided the falling pieces.

"Now she's really mad!" I heard the kid yell, "Things are about to get insane!"

I turned to see her run over to me.

After a little while...

I had to shield my eyes from the madness around me.

Moustache Girl stood in the center of an arena, now surrounded by a dark aura, with everybody watching from the outside. The background was a constantly shifting mess of colour.

She began to teleport, this time way more rapidly than earlier.

However, it was still the same attack, and I countered when she teleported in front of me.

She then teleported into the air and threw down Time Pieces in two bursts, but instead of breaking, they began releasing dark lines.

We took the hint and evaded before the Time Pieces broke and released walls of dark flame.

"Oh, she's mad, alright," I grumbled.

Next, she teleported to the center of the arena, faced me, and put her hands in front of her.

What was she-

"_**WATCH OUT!**_"

I felt myself being tackled out of the way, and looking up, I realized the kid had saved me from getting hit by a _HUGE _deathray.

It probably would've completely disintegrated me if she didn't.

However, she wasn't able to turn very quickly with the laser, which gave the kid ample time to run over and whack her in the face.

She teleported away, and began teleporting rapidly again. But once again, it was super easy to counter.

She threw down Time Pieces again. However, this time the lines were covering all of my nearby escape options. I attempted to dive out of the way, but I was just too late and...

It felt like a white hot sword slicing my right leg in half.

_Agony..._ but thankfully it didn't last very long. I got up to see her trying to shoot a laser at the kid.

I ran up to her, my right leg hurting with each step... and clocked her in the back of the head.

"So, you two like dodging, huh?" She suddenly said, "Then I bet you'll _looove _this!"

She tried shooting a laser at me. I sidestepped and ran toward her...

Only for her to teleport away and shoot a laser again.

I dodged again, and the kid ran toward her. She teleported again.

And again.

And again...

"This is leading nowhere!" I yelled.

I heard a Mafia Goon talk, then the Conductor. Although I was too busy to worry about what they were saying...

"Incoming!"

I jumped out of the way as... the Mafia Ball landed there, with Conductor on top?

"Let's roll!" He shouted, then cackled, "You two, give us a shove _right _into that red lass' _ugly mug!_"

"Awesome," I muttered.

Obviously, Moustache Girl noticed, and began to throw Time Pieces again.

I got behind the Mafia Ball.

"Dodge _this._"

I dropkicked it.

It got sent _flying_ across the arena and hit her so hard that it bounced high up into the air.

I wasn't sure how Conductor was staying on, but that would be the least of my concerns at this moment.

She tried shooting another laser, but this time launched two Time Pieces before doing so. Clever.

But the Mafia Ball came back down.

I saw the kid run over to Moustache Girl, and if she was thinking what I was thinking...

Moustache Girl teleported away, and I promptly kicked the Mafia Ball, catching her by surprise.

She teleported into the air, attempting to throw more Time Pieces.

We were able to dodge, however, and when the Mafia Ball came back down, the kid kicked it into her face.

She attempted to laser the kid, and while she was occupied I kicked the Mafia Ball again...

But to my surprise, she was ready for it, teleporting out of the way and kicking Conductor off, breaking the whole thing.

"Fine, then. I'll just have to do this!" She yelled.

She gave herself a _fricking forcefield!_

"That's new," I heard the kid mutter.

Moustache Girl began teleporting around her, and she took a defensive stance.

Oh...

I ran over to her to try and grab her, but...

Moustache Girl got there first, and the kid's umbrella made a depressing clang against it.

I cringed as I heard Moustache Girl strike... and clenched my fists when I heard the kid scream.

I helped her to her feet.

"I'm okay," She said.

She already knew I was going to ask.

I turned back to the center of the arena, where Moustache Girl sat. She then teleported away.

I felt rumbling beneath me.

Oh... she was doing this again.

I dove out of the way as she emerged from the ground.

"Nice try," I said.

I now heard Snatcher mutter something about a contract, but was too far away to hear properly.

He then laughed and shouted something.

A few seconds later, an energized cherry landed in the center.

Oh!

I picked up the fruit and waited for Moustache Girl to teleport close.

When she did, I chucked it in her face. She yelped in surprise as her shield was obliterated.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" I taunted.

"I'm just getting started!" She hissed.

She began jumping up and slamming down into the ground, creating shockwaves that zoomed along the ground.

I slowly made my way closer, and when she landed, I jumped toward her and swung my baton down with force, hitting her on the top of the head.

She teleported away again, reforming her shield... just as another cherry came in.

"You know that ain't gonna save you, right?" I questioned. She didn't answer.

The kid ran over to the cherry and grabbed it, and when Moustache Girl teleported to the center of the arena, she was instantly met with a cherry to the face.

She teleported away, rapidly teleporting around again. This time, there was no shield to stop the kid's counterattack.

Afterward, she reformed her shield _AGAIN._

And another cherry came in, right next to me. I picked it up and waited...

She began stomping around again. I predicted her movement and threw a cherry where she was about to land, knocking her right out of the air.

She teleported to the center of the arena, in the air.

Oh, she looked _**MAD.**_

"_**ENOUGH!**_"

She formed a beam, not aimed at us, but...

_Wait... she wouldn't..._

The beam blasted around and killed many of the people in the audience... so hard they... _**W**_

"_**NO!**_"

I whipped around to see the kid run full force and jump into the air, eager to bring Moustache Girl down.

I felt sick...

Moustache Girl turned around and blasted the deathray in her face, sending her flying all the way back and into an invisible wall.

"_**KID!**_"

I ran full force to where she landed and knelt down.

I felt even more sick.

She was completely, utterly, _torched. _Covered in _**serious **_burns everywhere.

"No, no, no no no no no... this can't be happening... you were always the skilled one!"

She didn't even respond.

I could hear her breathing slowing down.

She wasn't going to live...

I wrapped my arms around her and held her close.

"Come on, kid. Stay with me... stay with me... don't go..."

Still no response.

"Please..."

"What's the matter? Gonna cry? Don't worry, you'll join her soon!"

I let the kid down gently and stood up.

I took a deep breath.

"_What did you just say to me?!"_

"You heard me right, idiot!"

I whipped around and began seeing red and thinking vile things.

"_**YOU LITTLE SHIT!**_" I roared.

The sky darkened.

"You think you're so good, _**do you?!**_"

My hood began floating in no wind.

"You think you're _**POWERFUL?!**_"

My hands flared with dark energy.

"You think you can just do _**ANYTHING YOU WANT?!**_"

I pointed at her, grinning to see my _OWN _dark aura around me.

"Let me show you _firsthand..._"

A dark fireball grew in my hand as the arena was entirely swept in darkness.

"_**WHAT REAL STRENGTH IS!**_"

I released a feral roar as I launched it toward her. It exploded on contact, and I heard her scream, and watched her become dazed... a perfect opportunity.

"_**MEGA!**_" A Mafia Goon shouted.

I whipped my head around to see a sad Mafia Goon holding pink pons with hearts inside them. Were they... healing?

"Give these to the child!" He yelled, throwing them at me.

I caught them and ran over to the kid's body, kneeling down and dropping them on her stomach.

They absorbed into her body, all three of them.

And what happened next shook me to my core.

All the burns... all the wounds... they began to heal.

I began to feel hope.

I heard the Conductor chuckle.

"Oh... those Mafia lads... so foolishly brave," He chuckled, "But, eh, what's the point of livin' if I ain't got me train, anyway?"

"And I don't have my moon set anymore..." DJ Grooves said.

"Alright, DJ Grooves, the two of us are gonna help the little hat lass. Get ready for a _mean punch, _and you aim for my face, that's me weak spot!" Conductor stated, "This angry red lass needs to _**GET LOST!**_"

I looked up to see the two directors punch eachother. They exploded... and dropped more heart pons, which levitated toward the kid.

Others began to follow, and soon there were so many pons coming in that I couldn't keep track of them all.

"Wh-what is this?" Moustache Girl shouted, free from her daze, "If everyone disappears but me... then I'll be all alone! _Bad guys, __**stop it!**_"

The Mafia Boss, somehow floating in the air on the sidelines, shook in rage.

"No! _**YOU'RE **_the bad guy! _**GET LOST!**_" He yelled.

"**We don't **_**NEED A HERO! GET LOST!**_" Snatcher roared.

"Get lost!" A CAW agent shouted.

The flow of pons stopped now. All that was left was Snatcher, the Boss, a goat, and a few CAW agents. I looked back at the kid, who shot up at lightning speed. She now had a golden-white aura around her.

"I knew it couldn't be the end..." I said.

"What is this... power?" She said.

"The power of an entire planet's hearts beating as one," I said, "I have my own power, now, too."

I stood up and stared at Moustache Girl, and the whole place rumbled.

"M-my powers are disappearing?!" She shrieked.

"It's time to end this..." I said.

The kid grabbed my hand.

"Once and for all," We said in unison.

"_**No!**_" Moustache Girl screamed.

Time Pieces began to rain down, and she began jumping around very quickly.

I realized quickly that she was using the last of her power for a last stand.

She left no time to attack before teleporting into the air and throwing down an absurd amount of Time Pieces.

Thinking fast, I manipulated the dark energy and deflected it away from me. Meanwhile, the kid just took it, not taking a scratch or anything.

I then gathered all of the energy into my hand and released it as a dark flamethrower towards Moustache Girl. She tried teleporting away, but I just aimed at where she teleported to, catching her off guard.

She then attempted to shoot a laser at me, very quickly. I dove out of the way, but instead of actually diving, I became a shadow that swept along the ground.

I jumped out of the shadow form, fireball in hand, but she teleported away, right next to the kid, who clocked her.

She then proceeded to teleport around extremely rapidly.

She suddenly teleported in front of me WAY faster than I expected to, but her attack _phased right through me, _shocking us both.

But she was even moreso, so I took the opportunity to hit her with a baton strike, infused with shadow. It had a powerful effect.

"You cannot win this battle!" I shouted, "Give up!"

She refused to listen. On the battle dragged. She stomped into the ground again, which the kid intercepted with a potion. She threw more Time Pieces, which I deflected back into her face. She tried to laser the kid, who jumped and dove over it toward her, causing her to teleport away, in which I promptly counterattacked.

It just dragged on and on... until she teleported high into the center of the arena, a look of primal rage on her face.

She didn't even say anything.

She gathered countless Time Pieces into a giant ball, holding it high above her head.

I had a feeling what she was going to do and bolted for the kid.

When Moustache Girl threw it down, I grabbed the kid and dove into the shadows.

I waited until I was sure the coast was clear, then brought us out of the shadows.

Moustache Girl was on the ground, panting, hunched over.

"Let's end this," I said.

I gathered all of the shadows around, all of the dark energy, into a giant orb, then threw it at the kid's umbrella. It absorbed into it, then she put her own energy into it...

And with a battle cry, she released it all in the form of a dark-light laser at Moustache Girl.

The arena was filled with blinding light...

And when it cleared, we were back in the throne room, an unconscious Moustache Girl on the floor.

And from nowhere, all of the Time Pieces amassed into a giant orb and floated over to the kid.

She touched it, and began to float around it, doing a little jig before holding it above her head.

"This planet is now safe again!" She shouted before throwing it down.

A blinding light and deafening sound emerged.

Our journey was finally over.

**A/N: Well, there it is. All 56 Time Pieces back in safe hands. What a journey it was.**

**I'm sorry that this took like a week to get out. Once again, I just so happened to get busy, and then I felt sick... yeah... I should be able to get the 'epilogue' out soon, hopefully. But no guarantees.**


	72. Final Chapter: Homeward Bound

Final Chapter: Homeward Bound

**A/N: Here it is, the true final chapter. The pseudo-epilogue. I hope you enjoy.**

I woke up with a migraine and looked around, having no clue where I was. I looked ahead and my jaw dropped to see a huge window peering out into space, a nearby planet in the center.

Where the frick was I?

This was made even more alarming when I realized... why couldn't I remember a damn thing?!

I heard a high-pitched squeal and turned to see a little girl with a top hat and a yellow cape smiling at me while clapping her hands.

"Yay! You were brought here! I was so worried you'd end up lost..." She said.

This confused me, I'd never seen this girl before.

"I... uh... do I know you?" I questioned.

Her smile disappeared, replaced briefly with a look of alarm, then a look of disapproval

"No..." She said, shaking her head, "This can't be real. Mega, stop trying to mess with me, it's not gonna work."

"Who the frick is 'Mega'?" I scoffed.

She went pale.

"You... you're joking, right...? Surely you're just pulling a prank on me...?" She said.

"Why would I prank a kid?" I countered.

She looked devastated.

"No..." She said, "You don't remember anything...?"

"I'm afraid not," I replied.

She tilted her head down, then looked at me with a look of anger.

"No! This doesn't make sense! It's not fair! After all this time, everything we've gone through, just to take it all away? I'll make you remember!" She shouted.

She ran up to me and looked me dead in the eye.

"Remember when Mafia Town was covered in lava, and you saved me from falling in it?" She said.

"Nope," I said.

"I gave you a baton that I decorated with lightning bolts after that. Find it," She said.

I rummaged around, feeling for anything that would be like a baton.

I reached behind me and found it, then wielded it in my hand. Sure enough, it was a baton with lightning bolts on it. And it felt _**EXTREMELY **_familiar, I could sense a memory tied to it, but I couldn't reach it.

"Huh... fancy that," I muttered, "Surely can't be a coincidence."

"Remember when you thought I died on the sinking ship? I'd never seen such joy on your face when you saw Snatcher put me down," She narrated.

I recalled a feeling of intense loss, like my entire world had crumbled, then rage, then finally... joy and relief. Like the world was lifted off my shoulders.

"Wha..." I said...

She then shook me. I saw tears streaming down her face.

"Do you remember when you _took a knife for me?_ Traded _your own well-being _for mine?! You have to remember that! I sowed you a new sweater after that, and I'm sure you still have a scar!" She yelled.

It was beyond deja vu, beyond familiarity, I knew I'd witnessed something like this before.

If only I could just-!

_Boom._

It was like a switch turned on.

I remembered it in vivid detail. Fighting a maddened penguin director in a disco-styled basement. She was on the ground, reeling, and he was about to stab her. I refused to let that happened and got between the two just as he charged.

"Yeah... I remember..." I said.

But I didn't just remember that.

"I remember in Mafia Town, when I saw you hanging on for dear life and rushed to your aid," I said, "I remember the Arctic Cruise, when you went after the Captain and the ship sunk on you both. I still can't thank Snatcher enough for saving you. I remember when I took the knife for you. It was the only option. I wasn't going to ever let you get hurt, and I still never will."

She looked hopeful.

"I remember it all. Conductor. His crazy antics. Snatcher. All his crap he put us through. Alpine Skyline. All the peaks and me getting poisoned by those insane plants. Nyakuza Metro. Us working under the paw of the Empress while plotting to get our Time Pieces back, and almost paying the price in the end," I said.

"You do?" She said quietly.

"All thanks to you, kiddo," I said with a smile, "It was only a matter of time before I remembered... I could never truly forget you."

She tackled me to the ground in a hug, losing her hat in the process. I laughed and hugged her back.

I heard her begin to cry.

"Please don't ever do that again... the thought of being forgotten... it's as if you died... maybe even worse," She sobbed.

I patted her back.

"I will never forget you. Ever. Doesn't matter what happens, nothing could ever make me forget you," I said, "You're everything to me. I couldn't forget you if I tried."

She nuzzled her head into my shoulder and continued to cry.

"It's okay," I cooed, still patting her back, "It's alright. I'm here now. I'm not leaving you... not through death, not through amnesia, not through nothing. I'm here to stay."

She slowly stopped crying, and eventually pulled away and stood up. I stood up as well. She was still sniffling.

"You gonna be okay?" I asked.

She smiled and nodded.

I smiled back and ruffled her hair lightly.

Suddenly, a thought came into my head.

"Another thing..." I said, "Not sure how I should say this..."

"What?" She asked curiously.

"I... uh, well... to be frank, I remember more than just my adventures here," I said.

"You _what?!_" She gasped.

"Yeah, I remember everything. Literally _everything,_" I said.

"_**Tellmetellmetellmetellme!**_" She beamed.

"Well... to start off..." I begun.

I took a deep sigh.

"My name is Markus. Markus Pearsson Lane, for full, but middle and last names are irrelevent in this case. I don't have any real, cool, interesting backstory. I was just your ordinary 20 year old gamer guy back home. Day in, day out, just going back and forth from a boring job and playing the same old boring games. Oh, I was also enrollling in university, I was planning on becoming a nuclear engineer, but... I didn't know what I was doing, and what I did know what I was doing in was boring," I said, "I needed something new in my life. Something to give my life _meaning._"

She listened intently.

"And... that's when the Traveller intervened," I said.

"Yes, you're perfectly right."

I smirked, turning to see you-know-who floating there.

"Always when you're mentioned, eh?" I said.

"Always," He responded, "I see you've recovered your memories."

"Yeah. And now I realize how much I owe you for bringing me here. Do you wanna explain this next part?" I said.

"I suppose I can," He said, "I've been watching Markus here since he was an infant. Something about him caught my eye, and I took it as my goal to watch him grow until I could see what I saw in him become reality. I watched him struggle with his life. And I also realized that what I saw in him was a power locked away, one that needed to be awakened. That one day, I knew that I should bring him to this world, to give him the change of pace he wanted, and to hopefully awaken what was inside of him. And it worked far better than I could've hoped."

"And then after that... I ended up here, without any of my memories, and you know the rest," I said.

"Oh..." She said, "That makes sense. And your name is Markus?"

"Yep. Just Markus," I said.

"Another thing..." Traveller said, turning to me, "I'm quite impressed with how you two dealt with that moustached girl. Seeing what happened with that badge of yours was quite a sight to behold, you're well on your way to unlocking your true power."

"So the badge isn't part of it?" I asked.

"Not at all," He denied, "It's more like a bonus."

"Huh," I said, "Well, thanks again."

He nodded and vanished.

I turned to the kid.

"Did you already put the Time Pieces away?" I asked.

A look of realization hit her.

"Oh, yeah!" She said, "Completely forgot about that!"

She dashed over to her pilot/captain's seat and brought up a panel.

I walked over and looked over at what she was doing.

Suddenly, seemingly at random, she bashed a bunch of buttons, then lightly pressed another one with a 'boop!'.

I chuckled. What a ball of energy.

I heard the vault open and felt a vortex open behind me, not strong enough to pull me in but strong enough to sweep Time Pieces off the floor and into the vault. Once they were all in, the vault sealed itself.

I turned to the giant monitor and smiled.

56/56.

100%.

All Time Pieces back where they belonged... I'd have to make sure the kid kept her vault more securely closed.

"You'd better find a spot to sit down!" She shouted as she put her hand on a large joystick.

What was she talking about?

"Huh?" I said.

She chuckled mischeviously and cranked the joystick forward, full throttle.

It suddenly clicked.

"_**WAAAIT!**_" I shouted, but it was too late.

The ship violently lurched forward... but that was it. An alarm was also sounding, unlike any other we'd heard. The sudden jolt still launched me toward the window, but I put out my arms to stop myself from faceplanting.

"Whew, that was close," I said, "What happened?"

"Something's stuck on the spaceship, right outside the hatch," She pouted, "How does something get attached right _there?_ Fishy... I need to see what's going on."

She stomped over to the hatch and opened it.

She looked surprised and confused.

I ran over to see what she was seeing, and I saw immediately why she looked that way.

A Mafia Goon, Snatcher, both directors, and Cooking Cat were hanging onto another in a way that they formed a sort of chain hanging off of the ship.

"Don't leave us!" The Mafia Goon begged.

Snatcher released one of his arms and held up a contract.

"**Hey, you two, let's sign another contract!**" He said with... was that a hint of desperation in his voice?

"Ah! Don't ye _**dare**_ leave, lad and lass!" Conductor yelled.

"Let's watch our movie, darlings!" DJ Grooves shouted.

Wow... everyone really wanted us to stay that badly...

The kid shook her head and ran away. She came back later with a ridiculously sized broom and poked it out of the hatch.

Oh, no, not so fast.

"Hold on," I said, grabbing onto the broom, "Help them inside."

"_Inside?_" She scoffed, "We need to _leave, _we can't take them with us!"

"I know, but we need to have a talk, and I'm sure they'd rather wait inside than outside," I explained.

She sighed and pointed the broom at Snatcher.

"Grab on," She said. He did, and she yanked them all inside the ship.

"Thank ye for being so considerate, lad," Conductor said.

"**Yeah, thought you'd be all for shoving us back down to earth,**" Snatcher said.

"Wait here, all of you," I said, "Kid, come with me. Nobody else follow."

They all nodded, and the kid followed me into her bedroom.

"So... what'd you want to talk about?" She said.

"Well..." I said, "You said we need to leave. You've made it clear all throughout our journey that we were collecting the Time Pieces so you could return to your planet."

She nodded.

"But," I said, "What exactly's waiting for you back there? You said you have a bad past, so I need to know what's so crucial about returning."

Her look saddened, and she slumped down.

"Honestly..." She said, "Nobody cares for me back home. It's just..."

She sighed.

"I want to give it a second chance," She stated, "I'm hoping... if I go back, and show them how long I survived all on my own, maybe someone will finally accept me again, I've been trying so hard..."

I shook my head and sighed.

"That's what I thought," I replied grimly, "And that's exactly why we _can't leave._"

She gave me a look of confused anger.

"No, let me explain," I said, "So, we ditch this planet never to return, in hopes that when you return home everyone you know will be impressed by what you've done and suddenly pay attention to you. I'm sorry, but that's naive. I don't mean to be blunt... but if they didn't accept you when you were practically begging to, they never will."

"So I should just _**abandon my people?!**_" She shouted.

I stared directly at her.

"Kid. If they never accepted you, then they were _**NEVER **_your people to even begin with," I said, "But... look here. Have you not paid attention to what literally just happened like five minutes ago? People literally dragged themselves _**INTO SPACE**_ and held onto the side of a freaking spaceship for God knows how long just to _beg you not to leave._ That sounds like acceptance if I've ever heard it."

"It's my fault the planet was ruined anyway! If what you said is right, then I should just go far far away where nobody can find me and just live out on my own!" She yelled.

"Are you even _listening to me?_" I said, "We _fixed _the planet. And I'm sure you could've done it on your own, too. If they _want us to stay, _then surely we aren't too bad, yeah?"

She looked down.

I sighed and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Look, it doesn't matter to me. I'll stay by your side no matter what you decide to do," I said, "But I just want what's best for you. We can be happy here. _You _can be happy here. We can always go to your planet to visit, right?"

She put her hand to her chin and let out a 'hmm'.

"I never thought of that," She said, "It's about a month trip there and back. So I guess we could..."

She took a deep breath and smiled.

"Okay," She said, "You're right. Let's stay."

I smiled and hugged her. She hugged me back.

"You won't regret it, kid..." I said.

"... Welcome home."

**A/N: Well. That's it. This story is now complete. It feels a little bit weird to say, cause although it feels like yesterday I just began, it also feels like a lifetime ago as well. **

**God, I remember what I thought when I decided to make this story. My literal thought process was this: "Wow, I really like Konan720's Amnesiac's Journey, wouldn't it be funny if I made a story in first-person with a character like myself? Nobody'll read it, but hey, it'll help me learn to write in first-person."**

_**BOY, WAS I WRONG.**_

**Like, wow. Honestly, I'm not sure what about this story was so good that it deserves to have 100 followers and 87 favourites, or 53,495 views (still revelling in that number), yet here it is anyway!**

**And for that, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for reading this story. Even a single chapter is worth thanking for. I would've dropped this story long ago if nobody would've read it (cause the first person thing was giving me grief), but I'm so glad I got to write the full thing.**

**It was an absolute blast. Sure, Alpine Skyline and whatnot might've been a pain, and yeah my upload rate kinda tanked after awhile... but it was still amazing.**

**Writing this story was more fun than any video game.**

**So thank you, dear reader.**

**I'd also like to give a special thanks to Konan720, OPFan37, and Fighter33000. Not only for writing their own awesome stories, which influenced my own both directly and indirectly, but for also just being awesome people open to new ideas. If you haven't checked out their stories, I strongly reccomend you do, they're far better than my own.**

**But anyway... this was Megacharge.**

**Mr_Mega1423, signing out.**


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